


Little Secrets

by Grim-Polar (Skippyin)



Series: Little Secrets Collection [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Borrower!AU, G/T, Gen, Giant/Tiny, Non-Binary Frisk, fluff and friendship, fluff is good for the soul, human!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-05-15 02:39:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5768194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skippyin/pseuds/Grim-Polar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk, an orphaned borrower child, has managed to carve out a peaceful life in the home of two very strange human brothers and has been living under their floorboards for many months. Frisk's life gets a lot more adventurous though when they're discovered one day by Sans. Will they still be able to survive in the brothers' home? Or will the next-door neighbors prove to be a problem?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seen

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! So after being bugged about it by a friend of mine, I've finally decided to give in and post this fic. For this fic I kind of liked to use bedsafely's designs for Human!Sans and Human!Papyrus.  
> Here's a link: http://bedsafely.tumblr.com/post/134575745237/more-from-the-super-silly-species-swap-thing
> 
> Idk, this idea just kind of popped in my head one day and it's been bugging me ever since. I hope you guys like it. And if you don't well, thanks for checking it out anyway.

Frisk carefully peaked around the corner, eyes keen for any sign of movement in the dark room beyond. When their ears were met with nothing but silence and their eyes saw no immediate danger; Frisk decided to make their move. They ran out from their hiding place behind the large green couch and dashed for the kitchen entrance. Their feet made barely a sound on the carpeted floor as they skidded to a halt right outside the entryway. The child hesitated for a moment before entering the room. Despite the floor being made of hard brown tile their footsteps could still only barely be heard; the soft sound being swallowed up by the nightly silence that had engulfed the entire house.

Frisk knew they had to be quick. Neither one of the human brothers really stuck to a normal sleep schedule, so there was no telling when one would be coming downstairs for an early morning snack. With this thought in mind they quickened their pace towards the counter.

As a borrower child that stood at only two and a half inches tall, Frisk had to follow a certain set of rules in order to ensure their survival in the world. _"The Three Golden Rules of Borrowing”_ their father would remind them every single day:

  1. A Borrower must NEVER be seen.
  2. A Borrower must not take what will be missed.
  3. A Borrower must not take what they do not need.



The first rule had confused Frisk. Why must they hide themselves from the humans? Humans were just like them, only bigger. They laughed, they cried, and they loved just like them. At least, that's how Frisk saw it for a while. At that time, Frisk had lived in a different house with their Mother and Father. A family of humans resided there; which consisted of a Dad, a Mom, and their two children. The younger of the two having been adopted. For a while, everything was perfect. However, Frisk's life was uprooted when the adopted child had found their little home under the floorboards. Their parents had been taken while Frisk hid in the matchbox they had used as a dining room table. Frisk was never sure what happened to their parents, a part of them hoped that they were able to escape somehow, but they seriously doubted that. One thing was for sure, with their home discovered Frisk had to leave and leave they did.

From then on Frisk never really saw humans the same way. They didn't outright _hate_ humans, they just felt the need to be more guarded around them. Which is why they probably used more caution than necessary while opening the drawer that they knew the brothers used to store small odds and ends that would never likely see the light of day again.

Jackpot. Frisk wasted no time and started checking things off in their mental checklist. Paperclips, thumbtacks, a broken crayon, string, and some matchsticks; all were taken out of the drawer and hurriedly stuffed into Frisk's backpack. _“Be resourceful and find a use for everything you borrow.”_ That was what their father would always say. Quickly and quietly they buttoned up their pack and used their grappling hook to shut the drawer again. Smooth as clockwork and no trace left behind. Frisk exhaled softly, a satisfied grin on their face. They glanced up at the clock to check the time.

5:30 AM.

It would be another half hour or so before the two brothers awoke to start their day. The child's small stomach growled, gaining their attention. Well, it _was_ technically breakfast time. Maybe they could quickly grab some bits of cereal before retreating to their home? There was plenty of time.

Reassured by this thought, Frisk made their way to the far end of the counter where the cereal boxes were kept next to an unstable stack of clean dishes that had been forgotten to be put away. They selected a box of “Monster-O’s" marshmallow cereal with a sense that they deserved to reward themselves with something sweet for all their hard work. Frisk tossed their grappling hook up and hooked it to the top of the box. The plan had been to climb to the top and open it from there. Unfortunately, when they tugged on their grappling hook to begin the climb the box came tumbling downward. Frisk skillfully dodged out of the way of the falling box as it fell into the pile of dishes. This caused the stack to fall over, making a good portion of the dishes fall off the countertop and shatter on the floor.

Needless to say, it was a big mess. The cereal box had opened mid fall and spilled half of it's marshmallow and wheat contents all across the counter. At the same time the floor was covered in sharp broken plate shards.

A lump formed in Frisk's throat when they heard two sets of footsteps from upstairs. They grabbed a few marshmallows that had fallen near their feet and sprinted to the gap between the counter and the wall. Frisk could hear their heart pounding in their ears as they quickly descended down the latter of loose nails they had made a few months back. At the same time their boots met the dusty floor the lights in the kitchen had been turned on.

"GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!" The loud and familiar voice of Papyrus screeched throughout the room "What on earth happened in here?!"

" _Dishes_ quite the mess, eh bro?" Sans' drowsy sounding voice followed with a chuckle at his own joke. Frisk had to cover their mouth to keep from laughing at the pun despite their fear.

Their human hosts were two very strange brothers. Papyrus was the taller of the two and was always sure to make his presence known. Frisk had an easier time avoiding him due to the loud way he walked and talked all the time. Frisk liked to go into his bedroom when he wasn’t home and play with his cool action figures. Sans on the other hand, was trouble. Despite him being very sickly all the time, the shorter human posed as a very real threat. He walked so quietly it was almost like he could teleport sometimes. Not only that but he was smart. Not to say that Papyrus was dumb, he was pretty intelligent when it came to puzzles. However, while Papyrus seemed to be able to read people better than his shorter sibling; Sans had this uncanny ability to pick up on small details around them that his taller brother would miss.

Frisk took a deep breath when they heard footsteps approach the counter.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Sans! Help me clean up this mess! We can't have the kitchen looking like this." Papyrus loudly declared as he started picking up bits of platter off the floor.

"Sure thing, bro." Sans' voice chimed right above Frisk's head. Supposedly taking up the duty of cleaning up the cereal.

For a while Frisk sat there behind the counter, listening to the rustling of cereal and the soft klinks of broken plate. They covered their mouth and nose with their sweater collar to keep the dust around them from making them sneeze.

 _'I'll be fine.'_ Frisk thought as they continued to wait _'There's no way they'll look back here. All I have to do is wait till they leave and then I can go home. They'll probably just think a draft knocked over the box or something.'_ The thought of making a successful escape with no suspicion filled Frisk with determination.

"What's this?" Sans asked aloud, his attention seemed to be grabbed by something. “A fishing hook attached to some thread?” Oh no. Frisk quickly looked down at their belt, hands scrambling at their side trying to find something. Their breath hitched in their throat when they realized something was missing. In their haste to make a quick escape, Frisk had forgotten their grappling hook.

"What is the matter Sans?" Papyrus asked from his position on the floor.

"Some kind of weird fishing line? I mean it's got a fish hook attached to the end, see?"

"Have you taken up a sudden hobby in fishing?"

"Nope. That's why I find it so _cod_ to be here and attached to the _sea_ real box too."

"I am going to choose to ignore those terrible puns in order to agree with you. Clearly there's only one logical explanation for this..."

There was a beat of silence before Papyrus shouted loudly which caused Frisk to flinch.

"INTELLIGENT MICE!"

"Heh, you're probably right Pap."

"Of course I am! When have I, the Great Papyrus, ever been wrong?"

"I don't know bro."

"Exactly! It's clear we have an infestation on our hands brother! I will go out to procure some mouse traps in order to catch these mice! And when I DO catch them, I will kindly ask that they do not make any more of these messes in the future." After that sentence, Frisk heard rapid footsteps leaving the kitchen "OH AND WHILE I'M GONE COULD YOU PLEASE TAKE OUT THE TRASH?!" Papyrus didn't seem to wait for a response because there was a loud banging sound of the front door being closed.

"Sure thing, Pap." Sans said to his brother who was now long gone. The shorter brother shuffled his way across the room to the trash can to carry out his chore.

Frisk bit their lip in thought. When Sans was awake he almost always remained in the living room during the day. Due to his poor health he couldn't hold a job, so he often times stayed at home. Occasionally he would go out with Papyrus, however from what Frisk knew of their respective schedules, today was a work day for the taller brother. Meaning Sans had nowhere he needed to be. Frisk had to cut through the living room in order to make it home. If they were waiting for a good opportunity to make a run for it, now would be the time.

Frisk followed the wall, which lead them behind the stove that was next to the doorway. Carefully the borrower child peeked out from their hiding place, watching as Sans scooped handfuls of cereal and plate bits into the trash can. His bright blue eyes were focused on the task at hand and where in no threat of looking in Frisk's direction.

Quietly, Frisk made their way out from behind the stove and tip toed their way towards the doorway. They didn't take their eyes off Sans as they tightly hugged the (now dusty) borrowed cereal pieces to their chest. Their heart hammered against their ribs as the gravity of the situation sank in. All it would take would be for Sans to simply look a few inches to his right and it would be all over for Frisk. They would have to quickly take what little they had, hike through the outside world, avoid all the dangerous animals, and _somehow_ carve out a new living in another house. Assuming they made it out alive that is. Humans didn’t exactly like the thought of someone else sharing their house and borrowing their stuff without their knowledge. Frisk tried to steady their breathing, starting to feel paranoid that Sans might be able to hear them. They put a hand to their mouth to try to quiet their breathing, but dropped a piece of cereal in the process. It created a clearly audible tapping sound as it bounced off the tiled floor.

"Huh?" Sans glanced to his right.

Frisk ran. They let the rest of the cereal fall to the floor forgotten as they darted around the corner and into the living room. Frisk made a beeline for the cabinet the television rested on. There was a section of the carpet that could be lifted up to reveal a little secret trap door and tunnel that Frisk had made after weeks of work. The little tunnel lead directly to Frisk's tiny home. If they could make it under the television cabinet then they would be safe.

It took Frisk a moment to notice the hurried slippered steps coming up behind them. If Frisk didn't act now then they would definitely be caught. They dropped to the floor and slid like one of those baseball players they had seen on the television once. Luck was on Frisk's side because the momentum was enough to carry them underneath the cabinet. Frisk shot to their feet and ran over to their secret trap door, yanking it open without a second thought.

There was a muffled 'THUD' and the floor shook for a moment, causing Frisk to look up. The small child let out a tiny sound of surprise. Sans had gotten down on his hands and knees and looked underneath the cabinet that Frisk was under. From their perspective, Frisk could only see the half of Sans' face that was pressed to the carpet. The part that scared them the most was the huge eye that was fixed right on them. Frisk stood there in shock, they felt frozen and almost hypnotized by the eye that was such an unnaturally bright shade of blue staring right at them. It was almost like Sans’ gaze was holding them to the spot. The two just sat there in complete silence for a brief eternity. One trying to fathom what it was that he was seeing, the other inwardly panicking about _being_ seen. The silence was shattered when Sans seemed to find his voice.

"That is definitely not a mouse." He whispered softly.

Frisk didn't waste anymore time and jumped down the hole, closing the trapdoor behind themselves.

"Wait!"

They heard Sans' hands scrambling above them, probably trying to find the hatch. Frisk didn't want to wait around to see if he would succeed. Instead they ran. They ran and ran and didn't stop running until they found the little door they had made out of a card from some weird trading card game Papyrus liked. Only after they slammed it shut behind themselves did Frisk stop.

They stood there in silence, the only sound was their heavy breathing as they looked around the tiny home they had made for themselves. It wasn't much. In fact it was pretty bad. The makeshift furniture was poorly put together, the glove that Frisk used for a hammock was full of holes, and sometimes when it rained the water would drip in the far corner where mold had begun to grow. It wasn't much but it was _theirs_. Even though it wasn't the best, Frisk was proud of themselves for doing all of it without any help. Now though...

Frisk felt tears well up in their eyes as they sunk to sit on the floor. They wrapped their arms around their knees. A sob escaped their throat as dread stabbed into their heart like a knife.

Frisk had been _seen_ . They had broken the first rule in being a borrower. That was it, game over. Sans knew they were here now and he was probably going to tell Papyrus when he got home. Then they'd probably set up traps all over the house or worse, call an _exterminator_. Frisk was going to have to pack up anything they could carry and try to find somewhere else to live.

"It's not fair..." Frisk said aloud in between sobs, voice hoarse from months of disuse "It's not fair!" They shouted this time, feeling the need to scream. Frisk felt like they were going to be sick. They wanted to kick, scream and cry because _it wasn't fair_ . They're life was getting uprooted _again_ and there was nothing Frisk could do about it.  

The only thing they could do was to accept the facts and start packing.

So much for breakfast.


	2. Leaving(?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having been seen by Sans earlier that day, Frisk decides that they need to leave and relocate to a new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this story hasn't even been posted for 24 hours and this has already gotten a really great response o_o  
> Thank you.  
> Credit to Sans' and Papyrus' human designs go to bedsafely!

Frisk didn’t leave their home for the rest of the day. They had cried for about an hour, but that combined with the exhaustion from that morning’s events and lack of breakfast caused them to sleep for most of the day. It was a waste of valuable time. In the world of Borrowers, being seen was like being given the death sentence. What was once a safe home would suddenly be transformed into a death trap. Frisk remembered their mother had once told them a story about a girl she had known when she was little who wound up getting killed after being discovered. They used to hear all sorts of scary stories like that from their mother. Horribly morbid tales meant to keep Frisk on their best behavior. Frisk kind of felt like they were living one of their mother’s stories right now.

They could hear Papyrus’ loud footsteps hurriedly wander around the house, stopping for brief moments and then rushing on to another location. Frisk wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it couldn’t have been good. They weren’t sure where Sans was, but the loud snoring coming from the direction of the living room was probably him.

Frisk climbed out of their glove hammock, grabbed their backpack lying on the floor, and started walking around their little home. They numbly began shoving things into their bag and started planning their next courses of action. There was a fairly nice house up the block that Frisk could probably move to. It was large and very old, so finding a place in the walls to settle into would be fairly easy. If they were lucky there might be a mouse hole they could live in. Then they wouldn't have to worry about clearing out any insulation or carving tunnels through wood...

_"That is definitely not a mouse." Sans whispered softly._

_Frisk didn't waste anymore time and jumped down the hole, closing the trapdoor behind them._

_"Wait!"_

A shiver ran up Frisk's spine at the memory that assaulted their mind. They knew they were small, but for some reason they had felt even smaller at that moment. That had been the closest they had ever gotten to a human. It was terrifying and… A little bit exciting, but mostly terrifying. Frisk shook their head and reminded themselves to focus on the task at hand. Exciting or not humans were dangerous, especially when they were alerted to an unwanted presence in their house.

By the time they had finished packing, the sun had set. Frisk had to admit they had kind of taken their time with it. They didn’t want to leave, but if they wanted to survive long enough to see their next birthday then they had to. There was just one little problem. The only real exit was through the front door, and to get there Frisk would have to go back into the living room. Due to that morning’s events, Frisk got the feeling that going there would have been a very bad idea. Usually Borrowers made their own exit to the outside world, but Frisk was just a child. They didn’t have the skills to make too much of anything because they were never properly taught. Meaning Frisk was going to _have_ to go back into the living room if they had any hopes of escaping.

The little child took a deep breath, tightened their grip on their backpack, and set off down the tunnel they knew would lead them to the hatch they had escaped down earlier. When Frisk arrived, they knew something was wrong. The trapdoor was already opened. They cautiously approached the opening and peeked out into the room above.

They noticed that the television and it’s cabinet had been moved over. Sans probably moved them in order to find the hatch, to which he was successful. Frisk had been expecting one of Papyrus’ mouse traps to be lying out besides the trapdoor, however to their surprise this was not the case. Instead of there being some kind of trap, there was a plate with a small amount of spaghetti sitting beside the hole. Next to this was a note with Papyrus’ handwriting scribbled on it.

 

DEAR TINY CHILD,

SANS TOLD ME ABOUT YOU BEFORE HE TOOK HIS AFTERNOON NAP. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAD ALREADY SET UP ALL THE MOUSETRAPS I HAD BOUGHT. FEAR NOT! FOR I, THE GREAT AND CONSIDERATE PAPYRUS, PUT THE TRAPS AWAY SO YOU WOULD NOT GET HURT! I MADE SOME SPAGHETTI FOR DINNER AND SET ASIDE SOME FOR YOU AS A WAY OF SAYING SORRY. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

-THE GREAT PAPYRUS

 

Frisk blinked. This… This was not what they had been expecting. The small child eyed the food suspiciously as they walked along the edge of the plate. It _seemed_ alright. Frisk stepped a little closer to the pile of spaghetti that came up to their hip and gave it a little sniff. It didn’t smell like it was poisoned. Frisk reached out to take a noodle but paused. What if this was some kind of distraction to make them let their guard down? What if someone was hiding nearby? Frisk immediately backed off the plate and looked around, their eyes darting to every shadowy corner in the room. Frisk left the plate of spaghetti and jogged over to the front door, trying to ignore the feeling of paranoia crawling up their back. Since they were so small, they would be able to crawl through the crack under the door. It would be hard with the backpack on, so they were going to have to push it through first before they crawled through themselves. Frisk reached the door and got down on their knees to slip off their backpack.

 

“Hey kid. Where ya going?”

 

Frisk swore their heart almost stopped. Suddenly, Frisk was surrounded by light that exposed them for all the world to see. They spun around and almost screamed. Sans was kneeling on the floor right behind them, a flashlight in his hand to help him navigate the dark house. How had he gotten so close without Frisk noticing?! Frisk instinctively took a few steps backwards and felt their back hit the hardwood door behind them. They were cornered.

Sans seemed to notice Frisk’s reaction. He placed the flashlight to the side and carefully adjusted his position. He got down on his stomach, rested his head on his arms, and pulled down the medical mask he was wearing over his mouth and nose; this allowed Frisk a full view of his face for the first time.

“There, how’s that? Not that scary now right?” Sans asked, his voice was soft as he spoke. Frisk bit their lip and looked down at their feet. They could feel themselves shaking as they played with a loose thread that was hanging from the sleeve of their favorite sweater. “I know this probably sounds like a dumb question, but can you talk?”

Frisk hesitated before answering “Yes…”

“So, what are you doing over here by the front door?” The human raised an eyebrow. His eyes fixed on the small child a few inches in front of his face.

“L-Leaving.” Frisk’s voice trembled a bit.

“Leaving? Are you sure that’s a good idea, kid? I mean the outside world is pretty dangerous even for a guy like me. Plus, we’re in the middle of winter and you don’t look too prepared for the cold.”

“I have to go.” Frisk looked off to the side, not wanting to make eye contact. They didn’t like the feeling of Sans’ eyes on them. His eyes intimidated them and made them feel exposed and smaller than they already were.

“Who says?”

“N-Nobody really… It’s just a rule. If you get seen then you have to leave, a-and you saw me this morning so I _have_ to go.” Frisk could feel tears starting to well up in their eyes. There was a brief moment of silence with Sans fixing them with an expression they couldn’t identify.

“I’m gonna take a guess and say that you don’t want to go, do you?” Sans asked.

Frisk shook their head; tears started trickling down their face. A tiny sob escaped their throat as the emotional flood gates opened wide for a second time that day. They brought their hands to their eyes to try to wipe away the seemingly endless stream of tears. Frisk flinched when Sans reached a hand out towards them, but he quickly lowered it back down when he noticed Frisk’s reaction.

“Aw, hey kid it’s okay.” Sans whispered in an uneasy tone. He probably wasn’t sure what to do.

“Y-You don’t unders-stand. If I stay here I might get h-hurt or worse killed!” Frisk cried between sobs.

Sans gave them a strange look “By who? Me and my brother?” When Frisk didn’t respond Sans inched a little closer “Kid…” For the first time since the conversation began, Frisk looked up and met Sans’ gaze with their own teary eyed one. He looked down at Frisk with a look of almost complete disbelief “Did you really think that we’d _kill_ you?”

“F-From what I know about humans,” The child began with a little hiccup “they were never too happy when they found out about Borrowers living in their house. I-In all the stories I heard they always got really mad and set up traps o-or poisoned food or called an exterminator. S-Staying in a house after you’ve been seen a-always ends up with some kind of tragedy happening.”

There was a heavy silence between the two of them. Frisk wanted to turn and leave but they found themselves once again unable to move because of Sans’ gaze. It just felt so weird to be getting attention from a human. A being they were so used to avoiding and watching from a distance suddenly acknowledging their existence. It was weird.

After the longest 60 seconds of Frisk’s life, Sans pushed himself off of the floor, grabbed his flashlight, and turned to leave.

“Listen kid, I’m not gonna make you stay here. If you decide to leave well, that’s your decision.” He paused and looked over his shoulder at the small child “But if you do decide to stay, just know that my bro and I don’t want to hurt you. Okay?” He took a few steps but then turned around as if a last second thought struck him “Oh, and consider yourself invited to breakfast tomorrow morning. You know, to make up for earlier.” Sans winked, turned around, and left Frisk standing by the front door.

Frisk listened as Sans’ quiet footsteps retreated up the stairs, followed by a soft ‘click’ of his bedroom door being closed. They simply stood there, still frozen to the spot. Did that really happen? Had they just _talked_ to one of their human hosts and come out of it unscathed? Frisk ran their hands up and down their body, giving themselves little pinches to see if they were dreaming. Nope, definitely not dreaming. If Sans had wanted to hurt Frisk, he would have already done it. He had the perfect opportunity just a minute ago, but he didn’t take it. Instead, he just wanted to talk to the little borrower. The feeling of relief washed over them, a huge sigh escaping them as they collapsed onto their hands and knees.

Frisk didn’t have to leave.

_‘I_ **_should_ ** _leave though, sure he might be acting nice now but...’_ Frisk thought as their sense of logic in their mind spoke up _‘I should run. I shouldn’t take any chances.’_

The child stood up and turned to face the massive door in order to leave, but hesitated. Was leaving really the right thing to do? Frisk’s father had always said to stay away from humans… But their mother had always said to be polite.

Declining a nice invitation to a meal was very rude.

And so was letting a perfectly good plate of spaghetti go to waste...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More cute things next chapter! Promise! You know why? More Papyrus!
> 
> Also I've been thinking about maybe drawing little "covers" for each chapter. What do you guys think? Should I do it?
> 
> Let me know on my tumblr! http://grim-polar.tumblr.com/ask


	3. Breakfast with the Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk has breakfast with Papyrus and Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title for this chapter: Hot Breakfast Date with Two Dorky Brothers
> 
> O///O holy hell guys! You're all being so nice! I never expected this fic to get so many hits OR kudos! Thanks! I hope you all like this next chapter. It's a cute one and a long one too!
> 
> Gonna say this again: credit for Sans' and Papyrus' human designs go to bedsafely!!!

_‘I must be crazy.’_ Frisk thought as they walked down the tunnel _‘I can’t believe I’m about to do this…’_

Frisk had nervous butterflies in their stomach, trying their best not to think about what it was they were about to actually do. They felt uncomfortable and kind of naked going out into the open without any of their borrowing gear. It was important that they didn’t though. Before they had gone to bed last night, Frisk made sure to take a bath. The water was freezing, but they had gotten used to cold baths after spending months on their own. Frisk hadn’t gotten out of their little teacup bathtub until they were sure they had wiped away all of the dust and dirt that had accumulated over the past few weeks. They were wearing a nicer sweater that morning instead of their usual one that was dirty and full of holes and combed their hair so it wasn’t sticking up all over the place. After all, they wanted to look nice for this breakfast. Sans and Papyrus were allowing Frisk, a complete stranger, to live in their home. This would be their first willing encounter with the two humans so Frisk wanted to make a good first impression. They nervously fidgeted with their appearance, trying to make sure they looked presentable and not like some kind of small rodent that just crawled out of a sewer.

_‘It’s just a nice casual breakfast.’_ Frisk tried to reassure themselves _‘They’re not going to hurt you, or poison you, or stick you in a jar. They’ll just be sitting there, eating food, and I’ll be with them eating too. Nothing bad will happen. You need to calm down Frisk, if you don’t then you’re gonna do something stupid that might make them mad.’_ They stopped dead in their tracks when they recalled the huge mess they had made the other morning. Anxiety reared it’s ugly head and made Frisk feel queasy _‘What if they’re mad about yesterday? All those plates broke and that nice cereal had gone to waste. Maybe I should just turn back and forget about this whole thing…’_ Frisk looked back the way they came, very tempted to turn around. However, their growling stomach reminded them that not only were the brothers offering them food but also that Frisk had none in their own home. They took a deep breath and continued onward _‘I’ll just apologize. If they had really been upset Sans probably would have said so last night… right?’_

The young borrower finally reached the trapdoor leading into the living room. They could hear the floorboards creaking with activity, alerting Frisk to the brothers’ presence in the room beyond. Well, it was now or never. They hesitantly opened the trapdoor a crack, enough for them to peek out of. Frisk immediately picked up on the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through the air. Their mouth began to water and their stomach made a particularly loud growl at the tempting smell. Frisk’s attention was quickly pulled away by the sight of Papyrus’ boots pacing around the room.

“You did invite them, right Sans?” Papyrus paused in his pacing to look at his brother who was sitting casually on the couch.

“Yep. Last night I found ‘em again and told them they could come to breakfast.” Sans’ voice was slightly muffled because he was talking with food in his mouth.

“Then why haven’t they arrived yet?” There was another short pause “Do you think they forgot?”

“Don’t worry, bro. I’m sure they’ll be here. Why wouldn’t they come? This is **egg** cellent.” Sans said with a chuckle.

Frisk closed the trapdoor and took a deep breath. They shouldn’t keep the brothers waiting for much longer. Frisk quickly dusted themselves off, straightened their sweater, and ran their fingers through their hair in a last minute attempt of making themselves look nice. They took a deep breath, held it, and slowly opened the trapdoor.

Everything seemed to freeze.

Frisk felt their legs turn to jelly as they looked back and forth between Sans and Papyrus who were both staring down at them. Sans smiled and looked slightly relieved as if he had been beginning to doubt that Frisk would show up. Papyrus’ expression was harder to decipher. Frisk wasn’t entirely sure if the emotion was shock, amazement, or joy. Probably a combination of all three.

“U-Um…” Frisk stammered nervously as they lifted themselves up out of the trapdoor, letting it close behind them “H-Hello Sans. Hi, P-Papyrus…”

_‘Oh, real smooth. A+ Frisk. No really GREAT job!’_ Frisk berated themselves as their previous anxiety returned and their determination deflated. They were literally shaken out of their thoughts as the floor began to quake underneath them. Frisk almost lost their balance but was able to remain standing while Papyrus practically flew across the room in Frisk’s direction. The taller human got down on his knees and looked down at the child with a huge grin. Frisk could practically feel the excitement radiating off of him.

“Wowie! You know my name!” It looked like Papyrus had stars in his eyes “But then again that’s not surprising, I am very popular. People just can’t stop talking about me and how amazing I am.”

“Or maybe it’s because you’re always shouting your name all the time.” Sans jokingly remarked from his spot on the couch.

“Saaaans!” The other brother whined as he glared at his sibling “Not in front of our small guest!”

Frisk blinked in surprise. Papyrus had just called them his guest. Not intruder. Not pest. Not vermin. Guest. As in they were welcomed there and were not seen as a bother. They almost couldn’t believe their ears. These humans were really weird.

“Well now that you’re here, I should get you your food. You have no objections to bacon or eggs do you?” Papyrus asked with a polite grin.

Frisk shook their head “No, I-I like bacon and eggs…” They fidgeted with the hem of their sweater, willing themselves to keep eye contact and not look down at their feet _‘Remember your manners. Remember your manners.’_ Frisk thought as they stood up straighter. Their father had been a proper gentleman figure and thus had tried to teach Frisk to be the same. They would remember how their father would go on and on about posture and good etiquette. Usually, they wouldn’t call on their father’s lessons, but seeing as they were invited to this meal as an actual guest, Frisk felt the need to behave as such.

“Great! I’ll go fetch you some!” Papyrus exclaimed happily before getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

Frisk took a shaky breath. So far so good.

“Hey, kid.” Frisk looked up at Sans as he approached “Would you like me to give you a lift onto the coffee table?”

All of Frisk’s thoughts came to a grinding halt. Oh. Oh _no_. They really should have seen it coming. Now Frisk regretted not bringing their gear and losing their grappling hook. Without them, Frisk couldn’t climb up to where they needed to be. What, were they just gonna ask Papyrus if they could eat on the floor? Frisk knew they had to say yes, how else would they get up there? But… The thought of willingly climbing into the hand of a human sounded absolutely crazy. It **was** crazy. Sure, during their last two encounters, Sans hadn’t harmed Frisk. In fact, Sans wasn’t the problem at all, it was his hand.

 

_Tears were flowing freely down Frisk’s face as they curled up into a ball. They could hear their parents shouting and cursing at the human who had found their home and grabbed them. Frisk was good at hiding, it was a skill they prided themselves on. They crawled a little deeper into the matchbox, afraid that the human child might see them. Frisk watched as the child reached a hand into their home and started tossing around the furniture and breaking all the nice glass figurines their mother loved collecting._

_“Alright, where is it? I know I saw three of you!” They heard the child’s angry voice above them._

_Frisk bit their tongue to keep themselves from screaming as the child roughly shoved the matchbox over to the side. Their huge hand causing more havoc in another section of their tiny home._

_“Oh forget it!” The child shouted, clearly exasperated as they angrily slammed their hand down mere inches from Frisk’s hiding spot “I’ll just have to settle for you two.”_

 

Frisk snapped back into reality when Sans kneeled down in front of them and gently lowered his hand - palm up - onto the floor “I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes’. Hop on.” He said with a calm grin.

The child took a few steps forward, clearly hesitating. Every fiber of their being screamed at them to run, but they knew they shouldn’t. Sans and Papyrus were both being so nice to them, giving them food, and allowing them to remain in their home. Frisk had to do it.

_‘He won’t hurt you. He won’t hurt you. He won’t hurt you.’_ They recited in their head as they approached Sans’ hand. When they reached his fingertips they took a deep breath, closed their eyes, and walked right into the palm of Sans’ hand. With their eyes still closed, they sat down on the warm surface and pretended like they were sitting in their glove hammock at home. Frisk took in a sharp breath when they felt themselves leaving the ground, not of their own accord. They could also feel Sans’ fingers curl inward slightly as he brought them up to chest level.

“Heh, am I the only one that feels weird about this?” The human asked as he looked down at the small child. Frisk forced themselves to open their eyes and look up at Sans, giving him an uneasy smile.

“F-First time for e-everything…” They squeaked, doing their best to remain still and not look down. Not that they were afraid of heights, they were mostly afraid that the sight of Sans’ hand underneath them might make them freak out.

“I’m going to walk over to the coffee table now, okay?” Sans asked as he brought his hand closer to his chest. When Sans took the first step, Frisk immediately grabbed onto his shirt suddenly afraid that they were going to fall. They balled the white fabric in their tiny fists while their stomach did backflips. When they reached the coffee table, Sans nudged Frisk with his thumb to gain their attention “Mind of I have my shirt back?” Frisk let go of Sans’ shirt, a little embarrassed but at the same time glad that the terrifying ride was almost over. Slowly, Sans lowered his hand to the wooden surface of the coffee table, allowing his passenger to climb off. Frisk never thought that they’d be happier to have their feet on solid ground. Despite the fact that their legs were shaking and they felt like their stomach was doing an acrobatic act, Frisk felt proud of themselves. They had just willingly climbed into a human’s hand and nothing bad happened. Frisk sat down on a book that was lying on the table, letting out the breath that they hadn’t known they were holding. Sans walked around the coffee table and took his seat back on the couch, picking up the plate he had placed on the end table earlier.

Soon after, Papyrus re-entered the room with two plates. One for himself and the other for Frisk. Even though the plate was huge, Papyrus clearly took Frisk’s small size into account and had given them a smaller portion. However despite it being a small portion to humans; to Frisk, it was like being handed a full plate. A slice of egg white sat next to a pile of bacon bits. Papyrus felt bad that he couldn’t give them a proper fork, but Frisk insisted that it was okay. Once Papyrus had set down Frisk’s plate on the table, he sat down on the couch next to Sans who proceeded to flip on the television.

The three of them sat in silence while they all ate. Sans had flipped through the channels and found some kind of pirate movie playing. Frisk had to admit, sitting there eating a nice warm meal in silent company with the two brothers was… nice. It felt nice not having to sneak around and hide while constantly feeling paranoid about someone finding them. Frisk smiled a genuine smile as they bit into a piece of bacon and watched as the characters in the movie fought on a flaming boat. They always wondered how humans did all the amazing things they did in movies. Their mother had once told Frisk  that the humans used something called “Special Effects” to make it look like they were doing all those things when really they weren’t actually doing it. Maybe they could ask Sans or Papyrus about it sometime.

After they were done eating, Frisk walked off the empty plate and sat back down on the book they had been sitting on earlier. It had been a long time since they had a warm and satisfying meal like that. Once they were done, Sans collected all the plates and brought them into the kitchen. While he was doing that, Frisk suddenly remembered something they had to do.

“Um, Papyrus?” Frisk turned around to face the tall human.

“Yes? Is something the matter?” Papyrus bent over in his seat so he was more eye level with the child.

Frisk looked down at their feet, feeling a little bit ashamed “I-I’m sorry about yesterday. That big mess with all those plates and the cereal? That was my fault. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble for you and Sans…”

They nearly jumped when Papyrus suddenly started laughing “Nyehehehe! Oh, that? Don’t worry about that! I’m sure it was just an accident.”

“S-So you’re not mad?” Frisk was surprised. They thought for sure he would be upset.

“Not at all! After all, I, the Great and Kind Papyrus, am a very forgiving person! It’s one of the things that makes me great after all!” The tall human puffed out his chest and almost seemed to strike a pose in his bent over position, causing Frisk to smile. At that moment, Sans came back into the room and sat back down on the couch. He folded his arms behind his head and leaned back.

“Alright, so now that we’re all done eating I think it’s time for a little Q and A” Sans said to Frisk. It made sense that they would have questions. From the perspective of mankind, Borrowers didn’t exist. So of course suddenly finding one would raise questions.

“Ask away.” Frisk stated, sitting cross-legged on the table top.

“Alright, question one,” Sans raised a finger “Are you some kid who got shrunken by accident or what?”

“Sans! Don’t be rude! What if they’re a fairy who lost their wings!”

Frisk couldn’t help but laugh “No, nothing like that. I’m a Borrower. We’re just like humans only… Smaller.” They finished their sentence with a shrug.

“A Borrower, huh? So you... borrow stuff?” Sans asked as he scratched his nose.

Frisk nodded “Yes, but only things that wouldn’t really be missed. If we went around taking important stuff people would get suspicious.”

“We? So there are more of you?” Papyrus asked, seemingly excited about the idea of more Borrowers like Frisk.

“Well, yes there are more Borrowers. B-But I’m the only one who lives in this house.” They added the last part quickly.

The next fifteen minutes were spent with either Sans or Papyrus asking Frisk a question and the child answering it to the best of their ability. As they did, they found themselves relaxing more. They weren’t as nervous or scared like they had been earlier. Frisk found themselves smiling with every question and laughing when Sans would crack a joke. It had been a long time since Frisk had felt so at home. To answer one question, Frisk told the brothers the story of how they had come to their house the night of a huge storm 5 months ago. They originally were only planning on staying the night, but soon found themselves remaining. The brothers had been surprised to hear that Frisk had been secretly living in their home for almost half a year. Which prompted Sans to ask a question that Frisk was hoping would not come up.

“Is it normal for kids like you to be living without their parents?” Sans quirked a brow in confusion “If it is, I can’t say I agree with Borrowers’ parenting techniques.”

Frisk shook their head “N-No. Technically I wouldn’t have set out on my own until I was nineteen years old maybe a little older.”

“How old are you?” Papyrus asked while he leaned on the table.

“Eleven and a half…” They looked off to the side and rubbed their arm.

Both brothers did a double take. While before they had been sitting in relaxed casual positions on the couch; both Sans and Papyrus had practically jumped out of their seats and were fully standing.

“You’re only eleven?! Where the heck are your parents, kid?” Sans asked with concern in his voice.

“M-My parents are…” Frisk felt their throat tighten and their eyes sting with tears. No! They were not going to cry again. Frisk took a shaky breath to try to steady themselves “My parents are dead.” They said it fast, like ripping a bandage off they felt like getting it out fast would help. There were a few moments of silence until... Papyrus suddenly burst into tears.

“THAT IS _SO SAD_!” Papyrus shouted as he got down on his knees and bent over so he was eye level with the small child “You must have been so lonely and scared and-and-!” The tall human buried his face in his crossed arms. Frisk hesitated for a moment before walking over to Papyrus. They placed their small hand on his huge one in a way they hoped was comforting.

“It’s okay Papyrus. I’m not really that lonely anymore now that we’re friends. W-We are friends now, right?” Frisk asked as they patted his hand lightly. Papyrus lifted his head slightly and opened one of his eyes. Frisk could see their own reflection looking back at them.

“No, we’re not,” He replied.

“Oh.” Frisk felt their heart sank.

“We’re not really friends,” Papyrus began as he started lifting his head up “Until you tell me your name!” He lifted his head up all the way to reveal a broad smile “After all how am I supposed to be an amazing friend if I do not even know you’re name?”

“Oh!” The child blinked. They couldn’t believe they had forgotten to do something so important “My name is Frisk.”

“Well,” Sans sat down next to his brother, resting his head in his hands “It’s nice to finally meet you, Frisk.”

Frisk smiled up at them both “It’s nice to finally meet you too.”

 

Since Papyrus didn’t have work that day, he had taken up the duty of giving Frisk a full tour of the house. Frisk had ridden on Papyrus’ shoulder, holding his scarf to keep themselves balanced as he enthusiastically showed them the house from the humans’ perspective. At first, they had been terrified about being picked up again, but it was hard to say ‘no’ to Papyrus. As the tour went on, they slowly found themselves getting more comfortable. They had to admit, it was pretty neat being up so high. It made them feel taller. They kind of wished they could show Papyrus how the house looked through their eyes.

After the tour, Frisk and the two brothers played a video game together. Papyrus had insisted after Frisk told him that they had never played one before. Even though the controller was larger than they were and Papyrus won every round, Frisk had a lot of fun. The three of them spend the rest of the day doing similar activities and getting to learn more about each other. When the sun had started going down, and Frisk had begun showing signs of drowsiness, they decided it was time for them to go to back to their home under the floorboards. After bidding the two brothers goodnight (and promising Papyrus that they would be back again tomorrow), Frisk descended into the little trapdoor.

When they arrived in their tiny house, Frisk immediately stumbled over to their glove hammock. As they settled in for the night, they spotted a game cartridge they had found underneath the couch once. It was propped up in the corner of the room. Perhaps they could return it to Papyrus tomorrow morning when they left to go visit the brothers again. It was amazing how much one’s life could change in one day. With that last thought, Frisk drifted off to sleep.

 

_…_

 

_Ring! Ring!_

_...click!_

_“Hello?”_

_“H-Hey, uh, Undyne?”_

_“Oh, hi Alphys. What is it?”_

_“Um, w-well. I was checking on my pets and uh...”_

_“C’mon Alphys, spit it out!”_

_“Endogeny is missing!”_

_“Your dog?”_

_“Y-Yes! I was wondering if he ran over to your place?”_

_“Nope haven’t seen hide or hair of that mutt all day.”_

_“Oh…”_

_“But I think I know where he might have gone...”_

_“Where?”_

_“Alphys… Who is the one person in the neighborhood that your dog drives nuts.”_

_“...Uh oh.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus, master of changing emotions at the drop of a hat. :P
> 
> Next Chapter: The neighborhood's weird local scientist Alphys and police officer Undyne make their appearance!
> 
> In case, you're wondering. Borrower!Frisk suffers from Chirophobia which is the fear of hands. The reason why they were calmer when they were getting a tour from Papyrus is because they were sitting on his shoulder, unlike with Sans who had been carrying Frisk in his hand.


	4. Alphys the Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and the Bros get a late night visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP GUYS! OVER 100 KUDOS?! YOU'RE ALL SO AMAZING I LOVE YOU ALL!  
> I kind of took my time with this chapter and deviated from the norm of typing out the whole thing in one go and waiting a day before going back in to do edits and post it. I'm so glad you're all enjoying the story so far, even more so that's its inspired people to draw *GASP* FANART????
> 
> An amazing picture done by liviks of a scene from Chapter 1: http://liviks.tumblr.com/post/137977996727/grim-polar-i-drew-a-little-thing-for-you-3
> 
> An absolutely adorable picture of Human!Papyrus done by Toothpaste-Dragon: http://toothpaste-dragon.tumblr.com/post/137898758928/got-the-urge-to-draw-humanpapyrus-after-reading
> 
> And a cute doodle done by kinks-of-all-kinds: http://kinks-of-all-kinds.tumblr.com/post/137915504760/the-doodle-for-grim-polar-also-i-named-this-lol
> 
> Thank you all so much ;u; You're all amazing. You're art is amazing. It's wonderful people like you that encourage me to keep writing this stuff. God bless.

Frisk was woken up by a loud noise. A drowsy glance to the wristwatch they had hanging on the wall told them that it was one in the morning. Frisk made a face of displeasure about being woken up so early. It wasn’t like they had never been awake at that time before, but only when it was necessary or they had a nightmare. They laid there in their hammock for a few minutes, trying to hear what had woken them up. Surely it couldn’t have been one of the humans, could it? Frisk knew the brothers were prone to waking up in the middle of the night, what with Sans and his medical condition and Papyrus with his insomnia. However, something in their gut told them that it was neither. When they were met with silence, Frisk rolled over and closed their eyes to go back to sleep.

‘THUMP’

‘patter patter patter’

‘THUMP’

Frisk sat up and looked up towards the ceiling. Where those...footsteps? That couldn’t have been Papyrus or Sans. Frisk knew the sounds of their footsteps. Papyrus’ were loud and fast while Sans’ were slow and heavy. Someone or something else was running around the house. Frisk listened as the strange footsteps suddenly darted in the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor. What if it was something dangerous, like a burglar? Sans and Papyrus were no doubt in their rooms, fast asleep, and without any knowledge of the intruder. Frisk jumped out of their hammock and ran out the door; not bothering to put on their boots or change out of their knitted wool pajamas. The small child ran barefoot down the tunnel, but instead of taking a left like they had been doing for the past few days, they took a right. The right path led Frisk to a pulley elevator made up of an old can that allowed Frisk access to the second floor. They climbed into the can and started turning the crank as fast as they could. When they reached the top, they hurriedly locked the crank in place and ran down the tunnel they knew would take them to Papyrus’ room. Frisk really wished they had gotten around to making a tunnel to Sans’ room, because from what it sounded like, the source of the footsteps were right outside his door.

Frisk exited the tunnel that let out right behind Papyrus’ bookcase. The tall human was fast asleep in his racecar bed, muttering nonsensical words in his sleep as he dreamt. Even though their legs were starting to burn with exhaustion, Frisk didn’t stop running until they were at the base of the bed. It was fairly easy for the child to find good footholds on the fake car, they were able to reach the top in no time at all. Frisk looked out over the large expanse of purple diamond-patterned sheets. They were out of breath and their legs felt sore, but they had to wake up Papyrus.

Frisk ignored their body’s protests as they trudged across the plush plain to the large white hill that was his pillow. It took a few attempts, but eventually they were able to scramble on top of it. A gentle breeze blew past them as Papyrus calmly breathed.

“P-Papyrus! Papyrus wake up!” Frisk’s voice cracked as they tried to raise their voice loud enough to rouse the human from his slumber “There’s something in the house. Please, wake up!” No such luck. The only thing Frisk accomplished was making him roll over. The child marched over and started lightly slapping the back of the human’s head. “Papyrus! Come on! You have to wake-!” Frisk was cut off when they heard the bedroom door creak open. They looked over as the door slowly opened all the way to reveal the late night intruder.

A white dog.

To Frisk, that was just as bad as a burglar. Animals were dangerous and unpredictable, there was no telling what they would do at any given moment. Well, at least, it wasn’t a cat.

The dog bounded over to Papyrus’ bed and easily climbed on top. Frisk watched as it paused for a moment to start sniffing the sheets and work its way up to Papyrus’ pillow, shoving its nose in Frisk’s face. The young child backed away from the dog as it stared at them with a strange look. Frisk didn’t have to worry too much, right? Dogs were relatively friendly creatures. Surely it wouldn’t try to harm them? These thoughts were proven wrong when the dog began to growl.

“N-Nice dog?” Frisk began to slowly back away, trying to put some distance between themselves and the canine. The animal snapped at Frisk, causing them to jump back and fall over the edge of the pillow. Frisk’s entire world spun as they tumbled off of Papyrus’ bed and onto the carpeted floor. Their back felt sore from the impact, but they didn’t have much time to dwell on it. The dog jumped off the bed to attack them again. Thinking fast, Frisk ran underneath the bed and didn’t stop moving until they were pressed up against the wall on the other side. The dog let out loud angry barks as it tried to shove itself underneath the bed though it could only seem to fit a single paw underneath. Frisk’s heart was racing while they tried to think up a plan. They weren’t too familiar on what to do in animal situations. Should they play dead? Climb something? Make loud noises to scare it away? They were never taught anything about this! Panic rose in their chest when their mind came up with no solution to their current problem. Suddenly, the bed frame began to creak and move, followed by a sleepy groan.

“What…? AH! It’s you!” Papyrus cried out in an accusatory manner “How do you keep getting in here?! More importantly, why are you barking so much?” The bed creaked as Papyrus shifted his weight to get off the bed.

When Frisk could see Papyrus peeking under the bed they called out “Papyrus! Help!”

“Frisk?!” The human seemed to instantly understand the situation as he grabbed the dog and pulled it away from the bed. The dog didn’t calm down though and proceeded to struggle and flail in Papyrus’ arms in an attempt to get at Frisk “Calm down! Look it’s me, the Great Papyrus! You know, the person the you like to steal socks from? Stop trying to hurt my small friend! They can be your friend too if you would stop!” His attempts were in vain as the dog continued to fight against him.

Frisk knew Papyrus couldn’t hold onto that dog forever, so they decided that the best course of action was to go get help. They clenched their fists in determination as they darted out from underneath the bed and ran for the door. Frisk didn’t look back when the dog’s barking got more frantic along with Papyrus’ loud attempts to calm the canine. They ran out into the hallway and over to Sans’ bedroom door, crawling underneath it as fast as they could. Frisk had never really been in Sans’ room before, but they definitely weren’t expecting a treadmill to be inside. The human in question was already stirring from the amount of noise coming from the room next door. Frisk weaved through the mess of clothes and garbage that littered the bedroom floor. They had no trouble climbing on top of Sans’ bed because it was literally just a mattress. They were grateful for this because they felt as if their limbs were about to fall off. Frisk didn’t hesitate when they lightly slapped a hand on Sans’ nose to wake him up.

“Mmh, Frisk?” Sans opened his eyes groggily and then crossed them to look at the child.

“Sans there’s a dog in Papyrus’ room and it’s going crazy!” Frisk said in one breath, still trying to regain their energy from all the running around they had been doing.

The next few moments happened so fast they were a blur. The moment Frisk finished their sentence, the door was slammed open revealing Papyrus barely holding onto the angry dog. The canine seemed to automatically lock onto Frisk and lunge out of Papyrus’ arms towards the bed. Frisk was frozen to the spot as a speeding bullet of fur and teeth came straight at them from across the room. Next thing they knew, their vision was obstructed as Sans grabbed Frisk to get them out of harm’s way. Frisk didn’t see what happened after that, but they did register Sans’ hand getting a little bit tighter around their form and a lot of shouting. Frisk’s whole body went numb when they finally realized that they were being held in a hand.

Suddenly they were no longer in the brothers’ home but back in their old house, being held by the child that had taken their parents away. The screaming coming from outside the fist around them was their parents crying in agony. Why did it feel like they couldn’t breathe? Why did it feel like the fist was getting tighter around them, slowly squeezing them to death? Frisk felt their heartbeat grow faster as they greedily gasped for breath in the fist that actually wasn’t holding them that tight. Why was everything spinning? Why did it feel like they couldn’t breathe while their chest was still rapidly rising and falling in the motion that universally meant the functioning of the lungs? Their thoughts were swirling, logic mixed with nonsense forming a brick wall to keep their mind from working properly. They couldn’t breathe. _They couldn’t breathe. **They couldn’t breathe.**_

Frisk was brought out of their panic attack when Sans dropped them to the floor a mere 3 inches below. The child landed next to a beanie that had been left on the floor and their immediate reaction was to hide. So they did. Frisk just lay inside the hat, their whole body being racked with fearful shivers while scared tears ran down their face. Their fear was only made worse by the loud sounds coming from outside their hiding place. Frisk didn’t come out when they heard more barking. They didn’t come out when things seemed to calm down. They didn’t even come out when they heard two voices calling for them. They were too scared and too tired from everything to care. Their mind was still clogged with nonsensical cobwebs for them to think straight. After what felt like forever, all the noise seemed to leave through the front door of the house. However, Frisk was still too tired to move. So they just fell asleep inside of the hat.

* * *

 

Frisk didn’t find out what happened until the next morning. At first, they had been confused when they woke up surrounded by soft white material. They poked their head out of their makeshift sleeping bag to witness the mess that was Sans’ room. All they remembered from the night before was a crazy dog chasing them, running to Sans for help, and then… Nothing. They couldn’t remember a single thing after that. Frisk looked around the room for a clock but found none. However, judging by the light coming in from the window, they figured it was relatively early in the morning. The house was nice and quiet, so they figured they could get at least a few more minutes of sleep. With that thought in mind, they crawled back into the hat and curled up comfortably.

It took their drowsy mind a few moments to register footsteps coming towards the bedroom door. Probably Sans coming back from breakfast. He'd be happy to see that Frisk was uninjured from last night's events. If only, they could remember what had actually transpired...

“Yeah, Papyrus gave me the keys to the house before I left. I-I figured I’d make it up to Sans by cleaning up his room a bit.” Said a female voice from out in the hall. Frisk’s eyes shot open. That was definitely not Sans. They listened as the door opened and the person walked in.

“I know! I never thought Endogeny would do something like this. He’s usually such a good dog! But the way he attacked Sans last night…” There was a brief pause as the woman walked to the far side of the room “I’m just glad they don’t hate me for what happened. Plus, the fact that they don’t want to press charges. I mean I’m struggling enough as it is to earn enough money to buy food. Lord only knew what I would do if I had a lawsuit on my hands.” There was another pause, longer this time. Frisk guessed she was talking on a phone. They heard sounds of things being picked up off the floor and the occasional sound of a plastic bag rustling. Probably for the garbage that was littered about the room. “I’m just glad it’s not serious. Endo only bit his arm, but with Sans’ weak immune system you can never be too safe. The doctors are keeping him overnight at the hospital just to be sure that he’s alright, by the way things are looking he’ll be free to come home by tomorrow morning.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. Was Sans in the hospital? He had gotten himself bitten by the dog… to protect Frisk? They suddenly felt really guilty. If they hadn’t gone into Sans’ room then the dog never would have followed Frisk and attacked Sans. This was all their fault. Frisk’s thoughts were interrupted when the hat was picked up by the woman. Their stabbing guilt was replaced by gut-wrenching fear as everything started moving around them.

“Of course, he’s had all his shots Undyne! I mean, what kind of pet owner would I be if I didn’t get him vacinat-” Frisk’s world was flooded with light as the woman opened up the hat, allowing them to see her face. She had lightly freckled pale skin, her hair was bright lemon yellow, and she wore large glasses. Frisk recalled seeing her visit the house a few times. If memory served them correct, this was the next door neighbor, Alphys… Who was looking right at them. Both human and borrower stared wide-eyed at one another. Frisk could hear a confused voice calling out Alphys’ name over the phone she had pressed between her ear and shoulder. They sat in silence for a long minute.

And then Alphys screamed at the top of her lungs. The human woman quickly shut the hat, trapping Frisk inside.

“U-Undyne… I’m-I’m gonna have to call you back.” Frisk heard Alphys stutter quickly into her cell phone before she hung up. Silence filled the room, the only thing Frisk could hear was their own breathing.

“You’re going crazy Alphys, absolutely bonkers. You’ve messed around with way too many chemicals in the lab and now you’re hallucinating. What you saw was scientifically impossible. It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real…” Frisk looked up when they felt the walls shift around them as Alphys opened the hat again. Once again they found themselves in a staring contest with the human before she released a loud gasp “OH MY GOD, IT IS REAL!”

Frisk flinched at her loud exclamation and reached to cover their ears. Suddenly, everything tilted and Frisk found themselves tumbling out of the hat and onto Sans’ pillow which Alphys had positioned on her lap.

“Wow, you’re so small.” Alphys said with wonder as she reached a hand out to touch Frisk, but they backed away quickly “Oh, uh, s-sorry. No touching got it.” She brought her hand away from the child. Frisk let out a tiny sigh of relief. The child watched as Alphys tilted her head from side to side taking in their appearance.

“A-Are you gonna hurt me…?” Frisk was able to find their voice. Alphys seemed to get caught by surprise by this question.

“Hurt you? N-No way! I may be a scientist but I would never want to hurt anybody. Especially a little kid. Y-You are a kid right?” Frisk nodded and Alphys gave them a kind smile “Do you, uh, have a name? What are you doing here? Where you always so small? Where do you come fro-” Frisk held up a hand, successfully getting Alphys to stop bombarding them with questions before they could even answer “Oh, s-sorry I shouldn’t ask so many at once. My bad.” Even though Alphys seemed nervous (which Frisk couldn’t imagine why she would be) her eyes held a kind of light to them. It was the glimmer of curiosity, the excitement to learn, the amazement of the impossible. Frisk realized at that moment what they were seeing was childlike-wonderment on the face of a grown woman.

Unlike their first encounter with the brothers, Frisk seemed to be a little more calm while interacting with Alphys. She wasn't as scary as most other humans. She didn’t give off that large intimidating vibe. In fact, her body language conveyed like she wanted to be as small and take up as little room as possible. It put them at ease and allowed Frisk to answer all of Alphys’ questions. Their calmness seemed to calm Alphys as well, any signs of anxiety seemed to vanish as Frisk told her about themselves and their race.

“Wow…” Alphys said in a dreamy tone “I mean I’ve always read about little people in fairy tales, but I thought that’s all they were. I’ve got so many great ideas now!” Alphys started going off on a tangent about her ideas for inventions. She was talking so fast that Frisk was having a hard time keeping up with what she was saying.

“Alphys?” Frisk looked down at their feet. Their voice successfully got the woman’s attention.

“Huh? Oh gosh, sorry I was rambling again wasn’t I? What is it, Frisk?”

“Can I ask _you_ a question now?” The child glanced up at her through their bangs.

“O-Of course! Ask away!”

“Is Sans okay…?” Their voice shook a bit as they asked the question. Their previous guilt returned as they recalled what Alphys had said earlier “You said he was in the hospital right?”

“Oh…” Alphys slouched “That’s my fault. My dog got out last night and he attacked Sans. Usually, he’s such a good boy. I never thought he would attack someone especially Sans…” She sighed sadly and looked off to the side “Luckily it’s nothing too serious. He doesn’t even need stitches, but I still feel really bad. T-That’s why I’m here. I figured I could make it up to him by cleaning his room for when he comes home. I’m sorry...”

Frisk shook their head “It’s not entirely your fault… It’s my fault Sans even got attacked. He only got bit because he was trying to protect me…”

Alphys stared down at Frisk with wide eyes “OH. MY. GOD. Endo was trying to attack you?! Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Oh god, I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself if my screw up hurt a kid-”

“No, no I’m fine.” Frisk looked up at her, confused with her sudden concern for them. After all, she had only just met Frisk. They were expecting her to be more concerned for Sans, her long time friend, than Frisk.

Alphys let out a relieved sigh “Thank goodness…” Suddenly there was a small rumbling sound and Alphys blushed “Uh… That’s… My stomach. Are you hungry? Maybe we can go downstairs and get something to eat.”

Now that she mentioned it, Frisk realized that they were pretty hungry as well “Yeah, I am a little bit hungry… B-But could I ride on your shoulder?” Alphys gave them a confused look “I’m scared of hands…” They explained. A look of realization dawned on her face and gently she lowered her hand.

“Climb on up. Just be careful, I’m a little ticklish.” Alphys warned with a sheepish grin. Frisk gave her an appreciative smile and climbed up her sweater sleeve and onto her shoulder. Alphys seemed a little scared to move with Frisk on her shoulder. They noticed how she took her time walking down the hall and going down the steps. Occasionally she sent a nervous glance in their direction as if she were checking to see if they fell off or not. It almost seemed as though Alphys was scared of Frisk. When the two reached the kitchen, Frisk noticed the bright pink backpack on the counter top. It was covered in hearts and had the face of a cartoon character pasted on it. Alphys opened the bag and pulled out a cup with some kind of cover on the top “I didn’t want to take anything from Sans’ and Papyrus’ fridge so I brought my own food over from next door. I only brought one cup noodle, though. Do you… Wanna share it?” She asked uncertainly. Frisk nodded, they didn’t mind sharing. Besides, they’d never eaten out of a cup before.

Frisk watched as Alphys prepared the cup noodles and once they were done took them to enjoy on the sofa. She let Frisk off of her shoulder and onto the coffee table, where she also put down the cup. As they ate Alphys began telling Frisk a little bit about herself while occasionally handing them a noodle.

“I’m kind of a scientist. I’ve set up a whole lab down in my basement filled with machines and chemicals and stuff. Lately, I’ve been trying to invent something. If I’m successful then we all could be looking at a new way to power our homes. I’m still working on the proto-type. In order to get money to fund my main project, I’ve been doing commissions on the side. Right now I’m working on some life-sized remote controlled robot for a friend, but working on it always makes me really sweaty so things have been going kind of slow. I’m doing my best though because the price he’s offered is just enough to help me finish the proto-type! Once that’s done I can pitch it to the big companies, and then things will really take off! Uh, but that’s just hopeful thinking. Usually, things don’t work out for me that well.” Alphys let out a sad chuckle and looked down at her noodles “Before I started doing all this, I used to be a veterinarian. I wanted to try to create this special vaccination that would help animals suffering from brain tumors. I was able to get a few pet owners to volunteer their dying pets to test it. At first, the formula seemed to work, but then…” She sighed “It made things a lot worse. My pets aren’t technically mine, but when the experiment failed I was too nervous to tell their owners the truth. So I told them that they died of natural causes. Now I’m living with five animals all suffering from my mistake.”

Frisk tilted their head. Her dog seemed fine last night as it was running around the house. Was it really that bad? Alphys seemed to notice their expression.

“Endogeny is hyper sensitive. Noises are louder, smells are stronger, heck he gets extremely excited when you even raise a hand to pet him. Then there’s my parrot Mrs. Snowy, she get easily overheated so I always need to keep a bowl of ice water in her cage. She’s also extremely forgetful to the point she doesn’t recognize me sometimes. I have another bird named Reaper, he’s… he’s pretty aggressive and only seems to calm down when someone yells at him for some reason. I also have a snake, her name is Lemon-Bread, she doesn’t like people touching her and has been known to bite. Lastly, there’s my gerbil, uh… I-I don’t really feel like talking about little Memory… All five of them are suffering from some sort of brain rotting disease now and it’s all my fault. Some doctor I turned out to be…” Alphys leaned back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling “I was in a bad place emotionally after that. I didn’t have the confidence to leave the house. I quit my job at the animal hospital and basically became a shut in. T-Then I ran into Undyne.” She sat up a little straighter at the mention of the other person “W-We used to go to school together. She had pulled me over one night for speeding and recognized me pretty quickly. We’ve become pretty good friends after that. She encourages me a lot. I-If it wasn’t for her I probably wouldn’t even be working on my invention now. She’s just so amazing and strong and-” The woman’s eyes wandered up towards the clock on the wall and she almost choked in the noodles she had been lifting into her mouth.

“Oh my gosh, is that the time?!” Alphys launched out of her seat “Visiting hours at the hospital are going to be over soon and I promised Sans and Papyrus I’d bring them their overnight bags! Stupid stupid!” Frisk watched as Alphys darted up the stairs towards the brothers’ bedrooms. They heard loud noises coming from inside each room as Alphys gathered up Sans’ and Papyrus’ bags. She practically flew down the stairs, grabbed her pink backpack, and made a beeline for the front door.

Frisk would have understood if Alphys had just left them alone to go deliver the bags to the brothers. However, they were surprised when Alphys paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned to the small child.

“H-Hey Frisk. Would you like to come visit Sans at the hospital with me? You can ride in my backpack if you want.” She asked, shrugging her shoulder to shake the backpack a bit.

“Hmm…” Frisk put a hand to their chin. They did want to go to see Sans. They were sure they’d be safe if they rode in a bag of some kind, but for some reason they felt like riding in a backpack would get very uncomfortable. The child’s eyes wandered down to the large blue duffle bag with the name “SANS” written on it in sloppy letters that Alphys was carrying in her hand. “I think I have a better idea,” They said with a grin.

* * *

 

Alphys opened the door to Sans’ hospital room. Both he and Papyrus were awake and watching the television hanging in the upper corner of the room.

“H-Hey guys…” Alphys called out to them and gained their attention “I brought your bags.”

“Alphys! Welcome back!” Papyrus greeted her with a hug and took his own overnight bag from her arms “Here let me get this off your hands.”

“Thanks, Papyrus.” The shorter woman said with a grateful smile as she approached Sans and very gently set his bag on his lap.

“Geez Alph, I know I’m in a hospital and all but that doesn’t mean you gotta give me my bag as if I’m made of glass,” Sans said with a light-hearted chuckle as he unzipped the bag.

“Surprise!!!” Frisk cried as they popped out of Sans’ bag with a happy giggle.

“Frisk?” Sans was without his mask, allowing Frisk a good view of his surprised grin. The human's eyes lit up at the sight of the young borrower. Sans looked up at Alphys who only smiled and shrugged. He brought his attention back down to the child as they climbed out of the bag and slid down the side to sit in his lap “How are ya kid? Me and Pap couldn’t find you after what happened last night.”

“I’m fine. Are you okay?” Frisk gave a sideways glance to Sans’ bandaged arm.

“What, this?” Sans raised the arm in question with a quirked eyebrow “This is nothing. Trust me, I’ve felt worse.”

“I still kind of feel like it was my fault…” The small child looked down and tugged at the hem of their sweater.

“Hey.” His voice drew Frisk’s gaze upwards “You did the right thing to go get help when you saw Papyrus was having a rough time. It was either I got bit or you got killed. I don’t know about you, but I think this was the better outcome.” Sans shrugged, still smiling down at Frisk.

Frisk smiled back “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

The next few hours were spent through nice conversation. Some time was spent with both groups telling the other about their day. Sans and Papyrus seemed to get a kick out of the story about how Alphys met Frisk. The air was filled with laughter and lighthearted fun as the four of them talked about a range of different topics. Frisk wished it could have lasted. Eventually, though a voice came over the speakers letting all visitors know that visiting hours were ending. They wanted to stay with Sans, but Papyrus pointed out that it would probably be safer for Frisk to get a ride back home with Alphys. Sans reassured them by saying that he would be home tomorrow evening. Reluctantly, Frisk went back home.

* * *

 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright here by yourself?” Alphys asked as she set Frisk down on the floor “I don’t mind staying the night here.”

Frisk shook their head “I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself.”

“Alright then…” She didn’t look too happy about leaving Frisk by themselves “I’ll stop by tomorrow morning to come check on you, okay?”

“Okay,” Frisk said with a small smile that Alphys returned.

“I’m glad I met you today Frisk.” The woman said as she turned to leave “Thank you for listening to me earlier, I’ve never really told anybody the truth about my pets. It feels good to get it off my chest.”

“Thank you for not squishing me when you found me in Sans’ hat.” The small child rubbed the back of their head.

“Good night Frisk.”

“Good night Alphys.”

With that, the house descended into silence.

* * *

 

A tall woman with bright red hair sat in her police cruiser that was pulled over on the side of the road. She had nowhere she needed to be, so she simply sat there with her fingers impatiently tapping on the steering wheel.

“C’mon, c’mooon…” The woman muttered to herself glancing to her cellphone that was resting in the cup holder “Why haven’t you called back yet Alphys?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say thank you all so much for reading this and for being so nice! I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. If you have any questions please feel free to come bother me on my tumblr. I'd love to hear your questions.


	5. A Party for Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is coming home today! Time to decorate, make a cake, and have fun! Sort of...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm floored by the amount of love this fic has been getting! Whenever I start feeling unmotivated I look at all the wonderful comments and fanart you guys have been leaving. It really keeps me going :*)
> 
> Speaking of fanart, quick shoutout to iwantallthecookies for their amazing sketches of scenes from Chapters 1, 2, and 3: http://iwantallthecookies.tumblr.com/post/138113460441/ive-read-grim-polar-s-fanfic-called-little
> 
> Love you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next morning, Frisk awoke and was greeted with the sight of an empty house. It was hard to believe that three days ago they would love it when the house was empty, but now the sight just made them feel lonely. Strange how fast one’s life could change in a matter of days. The silence reminded them of the many months they had spent in hiding from the home’s residents.

When Frisk had first discovered the brothers’ home, it was on a dark stormy night. It had been about a week after they had fled their original home and had gone wandering about in the outside world. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Frisk had to survive off of what little rations they had managed to salvage from the ruins of their home, and when those had run out three days later, they had to eat the scraps they managed to find. Luckily, water was never a problem, the dew on the grass every morning provided more than enough water to keep Frisk hydrated. Animals had been their main concern however, Lady Luck seemed to have smiled down on them and given them very few encounters with the local wildlife. Frisk’s luck seemed to have run out that fateful night, as a terrible rainstorm ravaged their small world. Large raindrops fell from the sky like wet curtains, making the soil underneath their feet soft and difficult to navigate through. They remember silently berating themselves for not staying close to the sidewalks, the hard concrete would have provided ample safety from the possibility of drowning in mud. Without any kind of proper protection from the storm, Frisk had been soaked to the bone. They were desperate for shelter but found none in the ocean of grass around them. Eventually, Frisk was able to find a solid gray surface amongst the green grass, a walkway! They had followed the concrete path to an average looking house and slipped underneath the front door without a second thought. All they had cared about at that moment was getting someplace that wasn’t wet. The house had been empty at that time, and Frisk had taken the liberty to explore their new surroundings while getting dry. They had figured they could stay the night and then set off the next morning. Later that night, Sans and Papyrus had come home, Frisk’s first impression of the brothers was that they were a couple of complete goofballs. It was this very trait that had allowed Frisk’s first borrowing to be a success. This roaring success gave them the confidence to remain in the brothers’ home.

Frisk frowned a bit at that memory. Not that it was a bad memory. It just made them a little sad that they couldn’t really celebrate their first borrowing. For Borrowers, a child’s first borrowing was like a sort of “coming of age” event. Frisk had laid there for hours with pride in their heart on top of the old glove they had successfully managed to slip past the brothers. It had just been lying on the floor in the living room, apparently it had belonged to Sans, but he had lost the other one and was planning to toss it away. They eventually decided to convert the glove into their hammock. It was a largely celebrated milestone in a child’s life when they borrowed something for the first time. There would be a gathering of the family and a huge party to celebrate the child’s good fortune and health. The theme of the party would be based on the kind of item that was borrowed because of an old superstition. The old fashioned belief stated how the first item one borrows, and anything close in relation to it would bring that borrower good luck for the rest of their life. Frisk’s parents had been very old fashioned people and they were sure, if she had lived to see such an occasion, their mother would have knitted them their own pair of gloves as a party gift and insist that Frisk wear them for good luck. However, Frisk never got a party like that. It was an event that had held so much significance, yet Frisk found themselves to be the only one caring because they were all alone. The thought reminded them of a strange philosophy question, something about a tree falling in the woods with nobody around.

Frisk realized at that moment, as they walked through the silent house to get something to eat, that they did not like being alone.

The child walked around to the back of the kitchen counter and scaled the latter of old nails. They skillfully scaled it, arriving on the hard granite countertop. Frisk really wasn’t in the mood to break their back trying to open the refrigerator to find something to eat. So, they were going to be a bit lazy and just take a cookie from the cookie jar. It would be fairly easy since neither one of the brothers really bothered to put the cover back on.

Once they successfully managed to get a cookie from the jar, they spent the next fifteen minutes traveling with it to the coffee table in the living room. The remote for the television had been left on the table, so Frisk figured they could simply watch television until Sans returned from the hospital. There Frisk sat, skillfully positioned on top of the remote control, a chunk of the cookie in their hands as they pressed their boot down on the button to change the channel. They weren’t really sure what they wanted to watch because they had never watched too much television. Eventually, Frisk settled on cartoons. The child enjoyed their not-so-healthy breakfast as they observed the colorful characters bouncing around on the screen. Frisk was so engrossed by the ridiculous shenanigans of the cartoon, that they didn’t hear footsteps approaching the door nor the knocking that followed.

_‘BANG!’_

Frisk didn’t have much time to hide behind a very large book (Quantum Physics?) that had been left on the coffee table as the front door was literally kicked in.

“PAPYRUS, turn off the cartoons and answer the door when I’m knocking on….huh?” A tall woman comes running into the living room. Everything about this woman, from her outfit to the bright red hair she had in a long ponytail, screamed intimidation. The tall woman stepped more into the room giving the area a sweep with her one good eye “Hello? Papyrus? Alphys? Anybody?”

Frisk’s mind raced as they tried to figure out what to do. This was scary because this was new. Too new. They had no idea who this woman was, putting them at a severe disadvantage. The reason why Borrowers were so skilled when it came to hiding from their human hosts was because they memorized their behavioral patterns. Humans, like Borrowers, were creatures of habit. Their lives need some sort of structure, some sort of daily ritual to follow in order to keep themselves busy. By memorizing a human’s structure of habit, they become more predictable and easier to avoid. This woman, though, was completely new to Frisk’s mental database of humans they knew. Frisk knew nothing about her, or her habits, making this a very delicate situation. One wrong move and they’d wind up a bloody stain on her leather boots.

“Am I seriously the only one here? Then why’s the TV on? Did Alphys forget to turn it off when she came here yesterday?” The woman asked herself as she took a seat on the couch. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table but stopped when she felt the crunch of Frisk’s unfinished cookie underneath them. Curious, she sat up and examined the sugary treat with a critical glare “One of Sans’ marshmallow cookies? But he’s at the hospital still. Papyrus hates these things, so he can’t be the culprit. Neither can Alphys because every time she looks at a marshmallow now she remembers the ending to that anime soap opera we watched last summer and it makes her cry…” The woman placed the cookie back where she found it and leaned closer to the table “Besides there're lots of crumbs here.” Frisk listened as she ran her hand along the table, slowly tracing the trail of crumbs Frisk had left behind in haste. They felt their heart hammering against their ribs as her fingers poked around the edge of the book and sat still.

The child darted away the minute they noticed the shadow of her other hand looming above them.

“Rat!” Frisk heard her scream as they jumped off the table. The moment they felt their feet make contact with the carpet, they leaned backward and rolled, successfully bringing them underneath the coffee table “Oh no you don’t,” They heard the woman shout “You’re not gonna ruin Sans’ welcome home party, you little rodent!” Frisk nearly jumped when the table above them suddenly flew away. Did she just flip the table?!

Frisk started running again, avoiding the woman’s boot that came crashing down from above. The child fled underneath the couch but didn’t stop. Instead, Frisk continued to run until they came out on the other side, then turned in order to circle back around. When they came up along the side of the green sofa, they stopped just short and peeked around the corner. Luckily the woman hadn’t decided to flip the furniture again and was instead on her hands and knees with her arm stretched underneath to search for her target. While she was distracted in her pointless search, Frisk made a run for their trapdoor. If they could just get into the tunnel they’d be safe. With muted steps, Frisk ran across the room. They almost felt a few relieved tears well up in their eyes as they opened the trapdoor and jumped inside.

Frisk simply sat there in the tunnel, listening intently as the woman moved about the living room occasionally calling out things such as “You can’t hide forever, rat!” She must not have gotten a good look at Frisk if she thought they were some kind of small rodent. Sometimes they would risk a peek out of the trapdoor when they heard the stranger go silent as she searched another part of the room. Frisk’s attention was drawn away from the intruder though when they heard more footsteps approaching the door that was still wide open.

“Why is the door kicked down?!” Frisk wanted to leap for joy when they heard Papyrus’ voice. The tall man entered the house with Alphys at his side. Both were holding bags filled with party decorations.

“U-Undyne?!” Alphys called out in surprise “What are you doing here? I-I mean I know we invited you to come help with the decorating, b-but…?” The blonde trailed off into nervous stutters, not really sure how to convey her thought process.

“I showed up early,” Undyne plainly stated as she stood up from her kneeling position and turned to the other two humans “And it’s a good thing I did too. I caught a rat in the act of eating one of Sans’ teeth rotting marshmallow cookies!” The taller woman pointed an accusatory finger at the coffee table that was still flipped over.

Papyrus’ and Alphys’ faces seemed to go a little pale.

“D-Did you find it?” Alphys asked while Papyrus sent a nervous glance around the room.

“No, not yet. It’s hiding somewhere and I can’t find it. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna let this thing ruin the party.” Undyne said with a seriousness that Frisk thought seemed excessive for something she thought was a mere rat hunt.

The two knowing humans gave Undyne nervous smiles.

“Yes! Well, why don’t we help you?” Papyrus offered while sharing a look with Alphys, who simply nodded in understanding.

“Some help would definitely be appreciated.” Undyne sighed as she got back down on the floor to look underneath the flipped coffee table.

“Then I, the Great Papyrus, shall search the KITCHEN!” Papyrus loudly announced before making his way to the other room.

“I-I’ll head upstairs and search the bedrooms!” Alphys quickly stuttered before walking up the staircase.

Frisk closed the trapdoor and started down the tunnel. They didn’t have a tunnel leading to the kitchen, therefore, it would be too much of a risk to go to Papyrus. They were going to have to go meet up with Alphys then. They took the pulley elevator up to the second floor and made their way into Papyrus’ bedroom.

“Frisk?” They heard Alphys quietly call out “Are you hiding in here?”

“Over here, Alphys.” Frisk peeked out behind the bookshelf.

The blonde woman let out a relieved sigh and some color returned to her face “Oh thank goodness!” She sat down on the floor folding her hands while Frisk climbed into her lap “I’m so sorry! We didn’t think Undyne would come over so early. Papyrus and I thought there would have been time to tell you.”

“Does this have anything to do with a party for Sans?” Frisk asked with a tilt of their head.

“Y-Yeah. Sans has been kinda bummed about this whole hospital thing, so we thought a welcome home party might cheer him up a little. We just didn’t expect something like this to happen. I’m so sorry Frisk.” Alphys looked away and rubbed her wrist an expression of guilt etched into her face.

“It’s okay Alphys, I don’t think anybody could have seen this coming.” Frisk gave her a sympathetic pat on the arm.

“Thanks…” Alphys smiled down at them but then it disappeared “Listen, I gotta get you out of the house. At least, until Undyne leaves. When she says she’ll find something, she means it. The term ‘give up’ is not in her vocabulary. The longer you stay here, the more at risk you’ll be! I can take you over to my house!”

Frisk didn’t exactly like the thought of being stuck in the same house as the dog that tried to kill them not too long ago “W-Why can’t we just tell her the truth? I mean, I’m sure she’ll understand if you tell her I’m not actually a rat…?” They asked with a hopeful smile.

“T-Tell her the truth?!" Alphys bit her lip, her eyes darting from side to side “Listen, Frisk, I-I know you’ve probably gotten used to making friends with humans by now. The thing is, Undyne is a very… rough person. Don’t get me wrong, she’s really nice and wouldn’t **want** to hurt an innocent person. B-But she’s never careful! I’m just worried that she might accidentally hurt you. I only just met you yesterday, I would hate to lose a friend like you already. T-That’s why I think it’d be best if we kept you hidden.”

Frisk was about to protest but the loud steps coming up the stairs alerted the two to someone else approaching. Without warning, Alphys scooped Frisk up in her hands, stood up, and hid the child behind her back. Frisk took a deep breath as they sat in her palm, staring warily at her slightly curled fingers as if they were about to attack them.

“Find anything up here Alphys?” Undyne asked as she walked into the room.

“Yes! Have you found anything?” Papyrus’ voice was full of hope.

“N-Nope! No rat in here.” Alphys stuttered “I, uh, haven’t checked Sans’ room yet, though. M-Maybe it’s in there…?” There was a brief moment of silence of nobody saying anything “U-Undyne?”

“Alphys, I’m a police officer, I can tell when someone is lying.” Her voice sounded unimpressed “You found it, but you don’t want me to kill it. So you’re hiding it from me, right?”

“W-What?! N-No way! I honestly didn’t find a rat!” Alphys was getting nervous. Frisk could tell because her hands were getting a little sweaty and she curled her hand around Frisk more, much to their dismay. Frisk wiggled to try to make room for themselves, but this only caused Alphys to hold them a little more firmly.

“Listen, if you really don’t want me to kill it I won’t. But, at least, be honest with me.” The other woman’s voice sounded a little hurt that her friend was insisting on lying to her.

“I, uh...” Alphys brought her hands around to her chest, Frisk being hidden in her closed fist. The borrower started struggling in Alphys’ grip again. At this point, Frisk didn’t care about being revealed to Undyne, they just wanted out. They kicked and pushed at Alphys’ fingers while she continued to stutter.

“I-I-I….”

“I can’t breathe!” Frisk shouted, successfully prying Alphys’ fist open and taking a deep breath. There was a long moment of stunned silence as Frisk continued to breathe heavily. They heard footsteps approaching and looked over to see Papyrus reaching a hand out towards them. The small child flinched, not wanting to be held in anyone’s hands anymore. However, when Papyrus gently lifted them out of Alphys’ hand, he quickly transferred them to sit on his shoulder. Frisk didn’t hesitate to bury their face into his scarf, grateful that he didn’t keep them in his hand.

“Are you okay, Frisk?” Papyrus asked voice laced with concern.

Frisk nodded “I-I got a little scared, but I’m okay…”

They heard Alphys gasp as she looked down at her own hands “Oh my gosh, Frisk I’m **so** sorry. I completely forgot that you were afraid of hands! I didn’t mean to make you panic like that!”

“Uh…” All eyes turned to Undyne, who had been silent up until that point “Would someone like to tell me what is going on and what the hell is **that** thing?” She pointed to Frisk who curled up more against Papyrus’ scarf. The small child frowned, they didn’t like being called a thing.

“This is my new friend! Their name is Frisk.” Papyrus introduced them, tilting his head to gesture to the tiny child trying to hide themselves in his scarf “They are a Borrower. Which are basically like tiny humans who take things and live in secret.”

“It takes things? So it’s pretty much a little thief?” Undyne leaned closer with a tiny scowl. There was a reason Undyne became a member of the police force, she had no tolerance for crime. Papyrus opened his mouth to answer her, however, Frisk beat him to the punch.

“We don’t steal, we borrow.” The child muttered, lifting their face out of Papyrus’ scarf to look at Undyne.

“Oh, well excuse me, runt. Last I checked, borrowing something means to ask permission and eventually return it. If you take it and keep it, then that’s **stealing**.” The tall woman gave Frisk a dirty look. Undyne and Frisk seemed to get locked into a tense staring contest. Frisk was amazed that they had been able to keep eye contact for so long, considering how intimidated by this woman they were. Luckily Papyrus decided to interject.

“Well Undyne, since you know about Frisk you can be friends with them now too!” The man said with a goofy grin.

“What?! I’m not gonna be friends with a little thief!” She crossed her arms and frowned.

Frisk was shaken slightly when Papyrus shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave the room “Oh well. I guess you just aren’t up for the challenge of being their friend.”

Everyone, including Frisk, gave Papyrus a confused look as he walked towards his bedroom door. Frisk turned the words over in their head. Was being friends with Frisk… hard? Did Papyrus see being their friend as some kind of difficult venture? Did he not like being their friend? These thoughts made Frisk feel worried and a little uncomfortable.

“What do you mean by challenge? The kid’s a runt, it can’t be that hard to be its stupid friend.” Undyne’s words made Papyrus pause in the doorway. Carefully Papyrus turned around, slow enough so Frisk wouldn’t get knocked off.

“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong!” He said in a matter of fact tone “Frisk is so much smaller than the rest of us, we always have to be careful around them! One wrong move and they could get really hurt. If I move too fast right now, they’ll fall off my shoulder. We all have to take things slow and steady around them and try not to be clumsy so nothing bad happens to Frisk. It’s a challenge of self-control! Right Alphys?” The man turned to Alphys who flinched when all the attention in the room turned to her.

“U-Uh…” She looked between Undyne and Papyrus “Y-Yeah. When I met Frisk, I was scared that I was gonna hurt them by accident. S-Still kind of am. I-I guess Papyrus is right when he says it’s a challenge, b-but I feel like it’s worth it. I really like Frisk, ya know?”

“It is indeed worth it!” Papyrus’ smile grew wider for a split second before it turned into one of disappointment “I thought you of all people would be excited to take up such a challenge, however, I seemed to have overestimated you.”

Papyrus turned around to leave again but stopped when Undyne grabbed him by the shoulder that Frisk wasn’t occupying.

“NOW WAIT JUST A SECOND YOU BONEY THIN-MINT!” The tall woman yelled as she turned Papyrus around to face her “I can take on any challenge no matter how big or how small!”

“Great!” Papyrus said enthusiastically. Frisk was startled when Papyrus gently picked them up. Next thing Frisk knew, they were being deposited into Undyne’s hands “Then you and Frisk can work together to make Sans’ welcome home cake while Alphys and I decorate the living room! NYEHEHEHEHEH!” Papyrus suddenly grabbed the short woman by the wrist and dragged her out of his bedroom. He laughed loudly as he exited the room and ran down the stairs, leaving Frisk alone with the woman who had tried to kill them less than a half-hour ago.

Frisk felt their stomach do backflips as Undyne lifted her hands up closer to her face in order to inspect the small child. The eye that wasn’t covered by an eyepatch looked Frisk up and down before narrowing.

“Are your hands clean?” Her question caught Frisk off guard.

“U-Uh. Yes?” Frisk held out their hands to show that they were in fact, clean.

“Good. The last thing we need is Sans getting some kind of disease because some runt didn’t have clean hands.” Her comment made Frisk pout.

“M-Maybe you should spend more time making sure your own hands are clean.” Frisk said, casting a glance to a bandage Undyne had wrapped around her index finger.

This comment made Undyne laugh “You got an attitude. I like that.” She put Frisk on her shoulder. It was a little difficult to find a good hold on the leather jacket she was wearing, so Frisk clung onto her bright red ponytail that trailed over her shoulder. When Undyne started walking, Frisk almost got knocked off, however she seemed to catch herself and slowed her pace. When the two arrived in the kitchen Undyne set Frisk down on the counter top and proceeded to place the ingredients they would need.

“You ever make a cake before, runt?” Undyne asked as she placed the eggs, milk, and butter on the counter next to a collection of bowls and various packages.

“No, but I used to watch my Mom bake my birthday cakes.” Frisk said inspecting the ingredients.

“Well, I’m gonna show you how to cook the RIGHT way!” Undyne placed a hand on her hip and pointed a thumb towards herself “I taught Papyrus how to cook after all! If I can teach a hyperactive nut like him, I can definitely teach a runt like you! Now...” The red haired woman pulled an egg out of the carton and set it down in front of Frisk “Show me how you’d crack this egg.”

Frisk looked down at the egg set before them. Their mother used to use a needle to poke a hole in the shell in order to get at the contents inside. However, Frisk didn’t have a needle, so they were going to have to improvise. The small child took a few steps back before running towards the egg and giving it a swift kick. They didn’t manage to crack it like they had hoped. Instead, the egg started rolling. Undyne and Frisk watched as the egg slowly rolled off the counter and splatted on the floor.

“Well, that was anticlimactic.” The woman stared at the egg on the floor for a moment before taking another egg “And WRONG! I’ll show you the real way to crack an egg!” Frisk flinched when Undyne tossed the egg in a bowl and then punched it till it was nothing more than a gooey mess and shell bits.

The cooking lesson continued with similar acts of food based violence. Both Frisk and Undyne wound up very messy by the time they got the cake in the oven. When they had been mixing the batter, Undyne had asked Frisk to stir it while she prepped the oven. This predictably led to Frisk falling in and getting covered in batter. They had wiped themselves down with a hand towel, however, dry clumps of batter still clung to them. Although despite everything being a mess, and a few moments where they almost got crushed by a bowl, Frisk had fun cooking with Undyne. They felt like she felt the same way, judging by the smile on her face.

“Hey, guys! The cake is in the oven!” Undyne called out into the living room, drawing the other two humans over to the kitchen.

“Wowie! The kitchen didn’t get set on fire like last time!” Papyrus said with a huge grin.

“Yeah, but it’s a mess in here.” Alphys pointed out as she observed a stick of butter that was somehow stuck to the ceiling.

“Alphys is right! We cannot have the kitchen looking like this for Sans’ party! However, I, The Great Papyrus, cannot clean because it is time for me to go pick up Sans from the hospital!” He seemed troubled about what to do about this new situation.

“D-Don’t worry Papyrus. I’ll clean up this mess.” Alphys raised her hand as she volunteered herself “Undyne why don’t you take my house keys and go take a quick shower to clean off all that food? And uh, I guess I’ll run Frisk a little bath, i-if that’s alright with you Frisk?”

Everyone agreed with Alphys’ plan. Payrus and Undyne both left through the (now repaired) front door while Alphys brought a tiny bowl and Frisk upstairs to the bathroom. Frisk had told Alphys that they had their own little bathtub in their home, but the minute they said they didn’t have any warm water Alphys insisted that they bathe in the human’s bathroom instead.

The blonde woman gave Frisk a pretty basic set up on the bathroom floor. A towel was spread as a kind of fuzzy carpet. On top of it, she placed the bowl and filled it with warm water. Next to that she placed a dish with a piece of soap and two big globs of shampoo and conditioner. Once all that was set, Alphys left Frisk alone, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Frisk took their time taking off their clothes. The idea of bathing in the humans’ bathroom was weird, probably because it was such a large place from the child’s perspective. Frisk folded their clothes and placed them to the side before climbing into the bowl. In their long months of solitude, Frisk had forgotten how **good** warm water was. To put it simply, Frisk felt like they were in heaven. It felt amazing taking an actual proper warm bath after months of short cold ones. They even got to use _shampoo_. Frisk had always just rubbed soap in their hair to clean it, even back when they lived with their parents. They had never actually used proper hair-care products before. It made Frisk feel important; special even. The humans didn’t know how good they had it, in fact, Frisk was sure they took most of this stuff for granted. For a human, using shampoo was just using shampoo, but for a borrower, getting to use this stuff meant you were some kind of big shot. Frisk realized that since they became friends with the humans, they’d been living the high life. They idly thought to themselves as they cleaned off more cake batter how lucky they had been to have found a house with such nice people. They had only known Frisk for a few short days, and already they had given them shelter, food, and now an actual proper bath.

_“OH, well excuse me, runt. Last I checked, borrowing something means to ask permission and eventually return it. If you take it and keep it, then that’s_ **_stealing._ ** _”_ Undyne’s words rang through their head, making Frisk frown. Had they really been stealing all this time? Frisk had always been taught that it was borrowing. Had they been wrong? They felt a little guilty. For the past five months, Frisk had been secretly taking things from the humans and now the humans had been willingly giving them such wonderful things… It felt a little overwhelming. That’s when Frisk got a crazy idea. What if **they** gave something to the humans? What if they returned things that had been lost? Surely, that would make up for all the taking they’d done. These thoughts filled Frisk with determination.

Once they were done, they rinsed themselves off and climbed out of the bowl. Frisk rolled around in the plush towel a bit to dry themselves off, put on their underpants, and then picked up the rest of their dirty clothes. Instead of putting on the batter covered clothing, Frisk made their way over to the sink. Underneath the white sink and next to the wall, was a loose tile that led into another one of Frisk’s little tunnels. They took the tunnel back to their home, where they got changed into clean clothes. Everything felt so much better with their skin all nice and clean from the warm bath.

As Frisk walked down the tunnel towards the living room, they heard the front door open and close. Was Sans back already?! The thought of Sans being home made them break into a run. When they reached the trapdoor, they pushed it open. However, it was not Sans who had returned, but instead Undyne. Her hair was down and it still seemed a bit wet. Both she and Alphys were sitting on the couch. It seemed like they were having a conversation before Frisk entered the room. Both women were giving Frisk a confused look as they climbed out of the trapdoor.

“Frisk?” Alphys asked from her spot on the couch “How did you get down here?”

Frisk took a moment to close the trapdoor behind themselves before answering Alphys “I have some tunnels that help me get around the house.” They stated plainly as they approached the sofa “I have to get around somehow.”

“And you made them by yourself?” Undyne leaned forward a bit to look at the child on the floor.

Frisk nodded "It's how I hid from you earlier."

That earned them a low whistle from Undyne "Pretty impressive, for a runt.” Frisk smiled and Undyne smiled back as she helped the child up onto the coffee table.

 

“WE HAVE RETURNED!” Papyrus announced loudly as he burst through the front door, with Sans not too far behind him. The man of the hour gave everyone a slightly tired “Sup?” in greeting. Frisk watched as Alphys and Undyne got up to greet Sans at the door. They stood in silence as the four humans began excitedly conversing on the other side of the room. Frisk didn’t mind not being a part of the conversation. After all, they were all Sans’ friends before Frisk showed up. They would understand if he wanted to spend his first few minutes at home with his long-time friends. At least, that’s what Frisk had been expecting. They were caught by surprise when there was a pause in the conversation as Sans walked over to the table were Frisk stood. The human kneeled down, Frisk could tell that he was smiling underneath his mask.

“Welcome home, Sans.” Frisk said with a small smile.

“It’s good to be home. Doc **-tors** ? More like doc **-snores** , ya know what I’m saying? I’d rather be at home where all the excitement is.” A kind of hopeful light entered Sans’ eyes, a twinkle of pure genuine joy that they remembered seeing when they had visited Sans in the hospital the day before.

“U-Uh…” Alphys piped up from the other side of the room “As much as I adore cute moments of friendship like this one. D-Does anyone else smell something burning…?”

There was a long moment of silence before it seemed to click.

“THE CAKE!” Undyne and Papyrus both screamed in unison as they ran into the kitchen to try to save Sans’ welcome home cake. Unfortunately, the entire bottom half of the cake was burnt. However, Sans still loved it. For the rest of the day, Frisk, Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus, told Sans about that morning’s events. Frisk had to admit, as they sat there surrounded by four humans - no - by four **friends** , they felt like they were at home again. Frisk had a new family now. Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, and now Undyne, these four crazy humans were Frisk’s new family.

Frisk realized at that moment, as they sat laughing at one of Sans’ jokes while eating a burnt piece of cake, that they were no longer all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking pretty good for Frisk and the gang. Chapter 6 is already underway, however, I think it's going to be mostly filler/set-up for a future chapter. As always, it will be cute.
> 
> If you have any questions or just wanna say hi, go to my tumblr!  
> http://grim-polar.tumblr.com/
> 
> Love you all and see you in the next chapter!


	6. Walk With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Papyrus take a walk together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't say this enough, but I love you all and thank you for your support. Sorry this chapter took so long! I've been busy with lots of school work. This chapter isn't as long as the last one, and it's more of a set up for chapter 7. I hope you all enjoy this cute little chapter!
> 
> Big thanks to everyone who comments, sends me asks, or draws fanart. All of you are wonderful and I look to you to keep me motivated! <3
> 
> Oh and don't forget, Papyrus' and Sans' human designs belong to bedsafely at http://bedsafely.tumblr.com/

Frisk hadn’t gotten much sleep that night. They simply laid in their hammock staring at the ceiling thinking about what they had thought in the bathroom the previous day. There had to be something Frisk could do to return the humans’ kindness. The question was, what? Frisk wished that they weren’t so small. Life would have been so much easier if they were bigger. They knew the lack of sleep was probably getting to them when they found themselves entertaining the idea of asking Alphys to build a machine that could make them grow to human size. Their mind wandered; thinking about all the things they would be able to do if they were big. Frisk would get their own bed, a _real_ one, with a mattress and everything. Not some glove hammock or cushioned jewelry box like they had back in their old house. They’d also be able to go outside without having to worry about animals or rain. They’d be able to lift things like the remote control or a book. Best of all, nobody would need to carry Frisk anywhere. They would be able to walk around the house all by themselves without any help. These thoughts made the child giggle. Even though it would never actually happen, Frisk enjoyed thinking about the possible scenarios.

Still feeling wide awake, Frisk decided to get up and pace around the room as their imagination buzzed with ideas. Next thing they knew, Frisk had begun acting what was playing through their head.

“Wowie Frisk!” They said in their best impression of Papyrus “Now that you’re big, you’ll be able to be super helpful! You can help me make food and even come outside with me to go get groceries! I’ll even let you pick out an extra special treat for yourself because you’re such an amazing and helpful friend!” Frisk turned on their heel and stuffed their hands in their tiny pockets “Yeah kid,” Sans’ voice was a little bit easier to imitate “Now that you’re bigger, Pap and I will take you to wherever it is we go during the day. It’s bound to be loads more fun than being cooped up in this house all the time.” The child couldn’t help but laugh at their own silliness.

They paused when they heard a set of footsteps walk down the stairs. Those sounded like Papyrus’ footfalls. A quick look at the watch on the wall revealed it to be very early in the morning. Oh, right, Papyrus had to go to work soon. Frisk wasn’t entirely sure where Papyrus worked, only that he had ridiculous work hours sometimes.

The child didn’t hesitate when they walked out their door and down the tunnel. Wanting to say hello to Papyrus before he had to leave for work. Frisk opened the trapdoor to the living room and jumped slightly when they noticed the human in question sitting not too far away, lacing up his favorite boots.

“Good morning, Papyrus.” Frisk called out gently as they crawled out of the trap door.

“Frisk! Good morning! Did I accidentally wake you?” Papyrus looked up from tying his laces, grinned from ear to ear at his small friend.

Frisk shrugged and shook their head “I couldn’t sleep.”

The human gave the child a look of concern “Is everything alright? Has something been bothering you? Was Sans snoring too loud?”

“Oh, uh…” Frisk was slightly taken aback. They were always a little surprised whenever Papyrus - or any of the other humans - showed genuine concern for them. They were not sure they were going to get used to that. They also weren’t sure if they wanted to tell Papyrus about the thoughts that had kept them awake. It didn’t really seem like something Frisk should talk about and they had no idea how Papyrus would react. Before Frisk could come up with a good response, Papyrus had lowered his hand onto the floor in front of the child. Frisk took a tiny step back out of instinct.

“Since you’re awake, would you like to join me on my morning walk? I always take one before I go to work.” Papyrus gave them a kind smile, but Frisk could also see the small pleading look he had in his eyes. The child took a deep breath before crawling into Papyrus’ hand. They found it a little easier to ride in his hands because Papyrus would always wear gloves. It helped Frisk pretend like they were sitting in their hammock.

The ride up to Papyrus’ shoulder was smooth and quick. Once they were seated, Frisk grabbed hold of Papyrus’ scarf and gave him a little thumbs up to tell him that they were in no danger of falling. The tall human slowly got to his feet, grabbed his cell phone off of the coffee table, and walked out the front door.

Frisk was instantly hit with a wave of cold. They had almost forgotten that it was the middle of winter. The world outside of the house was dark, meaning the sun had yet to rise. Lights illuminated the sidewalks at set intervals, making the snow on the ground glitter like the stars above. Frisk watched a puff of smoke escape their mouth when they exhaled, catching the young borrower off guard. They had never seen their own breath before.

Before they could properly soak in their surroundings, Papyrus started moving again. Since it was so early in the morning, no other humans were really out and about. Papyrus was really the only person in the neighborhood who would get up at such a time. Frisk found themselves curling up more against Papyrus’ scarf as they tried to take in as much of the outside world that they could.

Borrowers never went outside much. Only when they were moving to new houses or had to go out to get specific resources. However, that was usually adult stuff. Frisk had gotten a taste of the harsh outside world when they had left their original home. Back then it had been vast and scary, but this time, they had Papyrus. So instead of being alert and afraid, Frisk was filled with wonder and awe. It was like Frisk had ridden into a whole new world. They wanted to remember as much of it as they could before going back to their little home. Maybe they could even get a souvenir from this trip to take back with them? The child’s eyes locked onto a strange object up ahead on the street corner. They weren’t entirely sure what it was. It was large, and blue, and had a strange little door on the front.

“Papyrus?” Frisk tugged a little on his scarf to get the human’s attention “What’s that?” They pointed to the strange blue object that they were approaching.

“This?” Papyrus stopped in front of the object in question “This is a post box. We put mail inside, and the mailman comes to pick it up and deliver it to its destination.”

“Oh!” Frisk had heard of them on the television but had never seen one in real life.

“Do Borrowers have their own mailmen?” Papyrus asked as he continued down the street.

Frisk shook their head “Sending letters isn’t really a common thing that we do. Uh, but I do know that my Dad used to use a small yellow bird to deliver messages. A canary, I think.”

Papyrus hummed in interest “So, do Borrowers not go outside often?”

“No, we don’t. It’s too dangerous. There are some more adventurous and daring Borrowers out there who choose to live in the outdoors. As you can probably guess, there are not a lot of them.” Frisk wrapped some of Papyrus’ scarf around their form to keep themselves warm as a gentle breeze blew past.

“That explains why you are looking around so much!” Papyrus exclaimed with a sudden realization “You have never experienced the outdoors!”

Frisk nodded “I just sit at home, quietly, every day… by m-myself.” They cleared their throat to try to cover up their brief stutter while they curled more into the human’s scarf.

Papyrus was silent for a few moments before responding “Frisk… Do you feel lonely when we leave the house?”

“A little… I’ve gotten used to being on my own, though. But…” They trailed off, uncertain if they should continue.

“But something else is bothering you?” Papyrus questioned in a soft tone, quietly urging them to continue.

“I guess I’m a little… jealous? Maybe? I’m not entirely sure how I feel, it’s just… just…” Frisk kicked their legs a little and looked down below to watch the sidewalk quickly pass by “You’re all so big. You get to do so many great things without having to worry about getting hurt or anything. You get to go outside and go places and meet new people. You can cook food on an actual stove, play fun video games, invent new machines, fight bad people! You, Sans, Alphys, and Undyne are all just so _lucky._ ” The child made a wide sweeping motion with their arm to gesture at their surroundings “This world is just way too big for someone like me to even think about trying to live a life like you do. But, you’ve all been so nice to me and making me feel like I am one of you. I guess it’s a little overwhelming? I’m afraid that I’m going to become some kind of burden unless I do something nice for you in return. It’s frustrating because there’s nothing I _can_ do because I’m just too… small.” They said the last word quietly and they weren’t sure if Papyrus heard them or not. Frisk buried their face in Papyrus’ scarf, suddenly feeling embarrassed. They hadn’t meant to open up _that_ much, but the words had just spilled out. Frisk’s embarrassment only grew when Papyrus stopped walking. They peeked out just a tad to realize that the human simply stopped in order to wait to cross the street. Frisk observed as the red hand picture turned into a white human shape, and held on tightly as Papyrus crossed the road. About half way across, Papyrus had come up with a response to Frisk.

“I did not realize you felt that way. It was not my intention to make you feel...er…” Papyrus trailed off, unsure of what to say.

“Useless? Insignificant? Tiny?” Frisk supplied him which a few choice words that popped up in their head.

“ _Left out_ , or that you had any sort of debt to pay.” He carefully scratched the back of his neck “Personally, I think of you more like a tiny friend or roommate or maybe more like a new **little** sibling. I’m sure Sans feels the same way.” Papyrus couldn’t hide his snicker and his grin only got wider when he heard Frisk giggle.

“When Undyne talked about stealing the other day, I guess I started feeling like I’ve been doing more taking than giving. I lived in your house for five whole months, secretly taking things that didn’t belong to me, and when you did discover me you didn’t try to kick me out. You gave me food and shelter, and to be honest, I was really surprised by that. It’s been what, four days since Sans saw me? The only thing I’ve really “helped” with was making Sans’ welcome home cake, Undyne did most of the work though so I’m not really sure if that counts.” Frisk sighed and buried their face in Papyrus’ scarf again.

“That’s not true!” Papyrus suddenly exclaimed. He stopped in front of a store window and looked at Frisk’s reflection. It was as close as he could get to actually looking at the tiny child in the face, considering their position on his shoulder. Frisk also looked at their reflection. It had been a long time since they had seen themselves. They didn't exactly have a mirror-like surface in their little home. The last time they saw their own clear reflection was months ago. Frisk's hair stuck up in a few places, and they noticed that it was getting a little too long for their liking. However, what struck them the most was how strange it looked having Frisk sitting on Papyrus' shoulder. They never realized how truly small they looked compared to Papyrus. It was strange, but they felt no fear.

Frisk turned their attention to the eyes of Papyrus’ reflection in order to meet his gaze. The human had a fiery look in his eyes, but it was not one of anger, more like one of determination.

“Firstly,” Papyrus began and held up a single finger “You were not stealing! You even said it yourself, you borrow things. The things you do take are merely small common household objects! It’s not like you are actually taking important things, like house keys. Secondly,” Another finger was raised “You have had more of an impact on our home than you realize! I’ve never seen Sans smile so genuinely in such a long time! When he had first told me about you, you know what he said?” Frisk shook their head “Well, first he made a terrible mouse joke. Then he proceeded to tell me about the chase you both had through the living room. It had been such a long time since I had seen him so excited! I was surprised, especially when he said he was going to try to find you again. It was like seeing you had put new life into him! Sans said that you were the most amazing thing he had ever seen, and he wanted to talk to you so badly. I, of course, wanted to talk to you as well, but I let him do it himself because he was actually putting _effort_ into something.”

Frisk was dumbstruck. Had Sans really been that enthusiastic in talking to them? He certainly seemed to hide his excitement well during their first conversation. They briefly recalled how Sans’ face had practically lit up when they had gone to visit him in the hospital. Did they really have such a positive effect on him, just by being themselves?

“Thirdly,” Papyrus held up another finger “Alphys has started coming out of her shell a lot more. Usually, she would barely leave her home because she was so hard at work on her projects. We would get the occasional phone call, but visits were extremely rare. Meeting you seems to have helped her open up a little! I’m not sure what you did, but whatever it was, Alphys seems much more relaxed and happy! Not only that but she’s been hanging out more with Undyne. They both seem to be pretty happy about that!” The human set his hands on his hips and grinned in the shop window “You see? You’ve been helping everybody, but in a different way!”

Frisk blinked. They never really thought of it like that before. Had their small presence really made such a huge impact on the humans’ lives? It took a moment of thought, but Frisk noticed that Papyrus had failed to mention one person.

“What about you?” They asked and tilted their head to the side.

“Me?” Papyrus seemed surprised like he hadn’t expected them to come out with such a question.

“Yeah, if I’m really helping everybody, I want to help you too.” Frisk smiled wide, their spirits feeling lifted from Papyrus’ little speech. Papyrus seemed to fall into deep thought for a moment before he checked his watch. When he realized the time, he seemed to get struck by an idea. Frisk held still when they realized he was reaching up for them, and allowed him to gently pick them up off his shoulder. They shivered in the cold winter air of the early morning as they were separated from Papyrus’ scarf. Soon they were returned to his shoulder, only now they were sitting right next to the base of his neck and his scarf was missing. Next thing they knew, Papyrus loosely re-wrapped his scarf around his neck again. Which wound up gently sandwiching Frisk between his neck and the bright red fabric.

Frisk adjusted themselves so their head was poking out and they could see. They were very confused, especially when Papyrus ran away from the store window they had been staring in for well over twenty minutes and down the street. Frisk couldn’t help but let out a tiny surprised squeak at the sudden speed Papyrus was putting on. They realized now that he had used his scarf as a kind of “seatbelt” to ensure that Frisk would not fall off while he ran, and turned, and jumped through the streets. Was this what roller coasters felt like?

“P-Papyrus, what’s going on?” Frisk timidly called over the sound of the wind whipping past them.

“Great news, Frisk!” Papyrus exclaimed, “I’m late for work!”

“Huh?!” This only made the child’s confusion grow more “Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“You said you wanted to help me, yes? I’m taking you with me to work! You can help me in secret!”

Frisk couldn’t fathom any words. Their stomach did a few flips, but they weren’t sure if it was because Papyrus was taking them to a strange place or the fact that Papyrus had jumped over an overturned trash can lying in the middle of the sidewalk. They had wanted to help him, but they weren’t too sure about _this!_ Part of them wanted to tug on his scarf and try to get him to take them back home. However, another part of them felt almost thrilled. It was a little like a breath of fresh air to be going to someplace entirely new. At the same time, though, it was extremely scary. What if something bad happened? What if they got separated from Papyrus? It seemed they were going to have to take that risk because they doubted that they would be able to make Papyrus turn around.

Frisk hugged the side of Papyrus’ neck when he came to an abrupt stop in front of the largest building Frisk had ever seen. It was definitely bigger than a human house, with stone walls, pillars, and high glass windows.

“Papyrus?” Frisk asked in awe as the human walked up the few stone steps leading to the large double doors of the building.

“Yes?” The human paused, his hand poised to push the door open.

The small child looked up at the large sign above the door “What is a ‘LIBRARBY’?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pap is the coolest. :) Bet you didn't expect him to work at the Library, huh? (He does it because it allows him to withdraw books for as long as he wants, which is good because he loses them sometimes.) And yes I couldn't help but give the local Library the same misspelled typo as the one in Snowdin. I'm a nerd.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed! Because I sure liked writing it! See you all in chapter 7 for our next character introduction~


	7. Struggling Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk helps Papyrus out at the library! However, they're having a hard time recalling something. Something that has to do with the kind woman that works at the front desk...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *SCREAMS INTO A PILLOW*  
> You guys would not BELIEVE how many times I had to rewrite this chapter! It's finally done though! Hooray!
> 
> Allow me to link you guys to some might fine fanart done by the wonderful musicerix:  
> http://musicerix.tumblr.com/post/139574866655/i-watched-the-secret-world-of-arrietty-the-other  
> http://musicerix.tumblr.com/post/139634322910/i-like-this-fanfic-by-grim-polar-a-lot-what-if
> 
> Give 'em the love they deserve. Without further ado, enjoy the new chapter.  
> *whispers* also don't forget Sans' and Papyrus' human designs are from bedsafely.tumblr.com

The inside of the building was pleasant and warm. A comfortable silence was present that gave Frisk a sense of ease. They flinched when Papyrus adjusted his scarf to hide Frisk but accidentally obscured their view at the same time. He muttered a quick apology as he walked forward.

“Good morning!” Papyrus greeted happily to a person that Frisk could not see “I have to apologize. I know how uncharacteristically strange it is for someone as great as I to be late for work! I decided to take my time during my walk because the roads are very slippery today!”

“It is quite alright, Papyrus.” A woman’s gentle voice responded “I’ve only just arrived myself. They haven’t done a very good job at salting the roads lately...”

Frisk tuned out the rest of their conversation when they were struck by a vague tickle of familiarity in their mind. It was a brief sensation that only lasted for a split second. Before they could risk peeking out at the stranger, Papyrus had finished his conversation with the woman and walked away. Once they were in the other room, Papyrus fixed his scarf so Frisk could see again.

They had never seen so many books in one place before. A seemingly endless amount of bookshelves surrounded them; all of them filled. The child couldn’t help but look around in awe, turning their head this way and that in an attempt to see everything around them. Frisk’s attention was pulled to Papyrus when he chuckled a little bit at the child’s curious behavior.

“This is the town’s library. We have all sorts of books about all sorts of subjects! It’s a very useful place, but also very big. The woman I was just talking to takes care of this place. However she cannot keep it all organized herself, so I help her! Sometimes Sans comes to help as well, but he doesn’t do a lot of work. He just cracks more of his silly jokes.” Papyrus rolled his eyes.

“So, uh, what exactly will we be doing?” Frisk couldn’t help but keep their voice low. It was just so quiet. They felt bad disturbing the silence despite it just being themselves and Papyrus.

“Well, during the early hours I organize books and put them back in their place. I also read books to the children that arrive here during the day. You won’t be doing either of these tasks, though. No, I know the perfect thing you can do to help!” Papyrus turned several corners through the maze of bookshelves and eventually they came to a door. Beyond that was a relatively small room with a single desk. On top of the desk was a phone, a very bulky outdated computer, and various other office supplies. Next to the desk was a large wooden cabinet with several small drawers. Papyrus lifted a hand up to his shoulder which Frisk climbed onto, and lowered the small child down onto the desk.

“What’s this room?” Frisk asked while they looked around the cozy little space.

“This is the office that we use to keep track of the books that have been withdrawn by people all over town.” Papyrus responded as he circled the desk and sat down in the cushioned chair on the other side.  Frisk noticed how each of the drawers on the wooden cabinet had a different letter of the alphabet neatly carved into them. They observed as Papyrus pulled open the ‘P’ drawer to reveal a lot of little cards inside that were slightly yellowed with age. He pulled out a random one and held it up for Frisk to read.

 

_ Peter Pan. _

_ Fantasy Oct 1911 _

_ S-3, R-34 _

_ #612 _

 

Frisk didn't entirely understand what it was they were reading and looked to their friend for an explanation.

“The first line is the title of the book.” The human said as he pointed out the words ‘Peter Pan’ on the card “The second line is the type of book it is and the date it was first published.” His finger moved down to point out the second row before moving down to the third “These numbers are where the book is supposed to go so we can easily find it.” Then he pointed out the numbers on the bottom row “And this it the book’s serial number! Every book in the library has it’s own number, so that way we can keep track of it using the computer.”

Frisk observed the card for a few more moments, memorizing the format that Papyrus had explained. They felt like it was important for the job they would be doing. Why else would he show them otherwise? Papyrus put the card back in the drawer and bent down to get something from underneath the desk. When he sat back up, he held a stack of blank cards in his hand and a sheet of paper.

“We recently purchased a few new books for the library. Since I have to go unbox them, I figured you could stay here and write out their cards? It would be such a big help; not just for me but also for the nice lady at the front desk!” Papyrus set the cards down onto the desk and propped the paper up against the computer so it stood upright. Frisk could see that written on the paper was a short list of books along with all the information that was to be written on the cards “However if you do not feel up for the task, I would understand.”

“I’ll do it!” Frisk said quickly with a little bit of excitement in their voice. Papyrus’ good attitude had gotten them a little pumped. Besides, the thought of helping a person as great as Papyrus and a complete stranger at the same time made Frisk feel good inside.

“Excellent! I’ll be back before nine o’clock. I should be done putting away the new books by then. There won’t be too many children visiting the library today because it’s Monday. So once we’re done here, I can show you some of the books in the children’s section. How does that sound?” Papyrus asked while he got up from the chair and made his way towards the door.

“That sounds like a lot of fun.” Frisk said enthusiastically. Excitement buzzed in their chest while they watched Papyrus leave the room. They were very eager to get started.

Once the door was closed, Frisk jogged over to a pencil that was lying over by the phone. Even though they could pick up the pencil, there was no way they would be able to properly write with it. Instead, Frisk stomped down on the tip, successfully breaking the sharp point off the end. Now that they had a proper writing utensil, Frisk made their way over to the stack of blank cards. They pulled a blank card off the top of the stack and laid it flat on the desk. Frisk sat down on their knees and poised the pencil tip on the card to begin writing. They looked up at the list that was still leaning against the computer.

 

_ Gulliver's Travels. _

_ Satire, Fantasy Oct 1726 _

_ S-3 R-55 _

_ #823 _

 

Frisk wrote in big squiggly letters, knowing that if they wrote too small then nobody would be able to read it. Their handwriting wasn’t as nice as the pleasant cursive the other card had been in, but at least, it was readable. With that card done, they moved onto the next. As they wrote card after card, Frisk grew curious about the books and what could possibly be written inside of them. They wondered who Alice was and what “Wonderland” was like. Why would someone want to know how to kill a mockingbird? How could there be a “Diary of a Nobody”? The child’s mind wandered with possibilities and ideas. It was hard to tell what a book was about just by its title, but they all sounded so interesting. Books weren’t exactly a common thing that Borrowers got the chance to read. Their father had once taken them to the attic where the human family had stored some old books. That was how he taught Frisk how to read and write. It had been hard at first because most of the books were faded or torn, but they had managed. According to their father, it was an important skill that not many Borrowers had the privilege of learning. Frisk, at first, didn’t understand why it was so important, but when they had started living on their own the skill had come in handy on multiple occasions.

Frisk’s wrist was a little sore from writing in such big letters, but luckily the list that Papyrus had provided was rather short. They were on the very last book in the list but paused before putting the pencil lead to the new card.

“72 Uses for Snails?” Frisk read aloud to themselves, clearly confused. Borrowers had many uses for snails. They weren’t sure how many, but Frisk was rather certain that there were more than seventy-two uses for them. Then again, the book had been written by a human, meaning the book was about seventy-two  **human** uses for snails. What made it even stranger was the fact that there was no further information written next to the title. No genre, date, section, or serial number. How was Frisk supposed to write a card for it without that information?

The child glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. It was fifteen minutes to nine o’clock. Papyrus said he would return soon, would he be disappointed if they didn’t complete the list in time?

“Well… If there isn’t anything written there,” Frisk looked down to the blank card underneath themselves “I guess I’ll just make up the rest.” They shrugged and got to work.

 

_ 72 Uses for Snails. _

_ Snails 201X _

_ S-4 R-13 _

_ #1234 _

 

Frisk frowned. It wasn’t exactly the best, but it was all they could really do. The child sat there for a few minutes with nothing to do. Frisk could feel the horrible curtain of boredom fall over them. They didn’t really have anything left to do now that they had completed their task. Frisk found themselves idly drawing doodles of snails on the card. However, soon that activity became boring as well. Frisk pushed the card to the side and stood up. Their left leg had fallen asleep and already they were beginning to get the horrible sensation of pins and needles as the blood started flowing again. Frisk shivered and did their best to walk off the unpleasant sensation. They decided it was time to do some exploring. Frisk’s natural curiosity had been nagging at them to further investigate the strange new place. It wasn’t every day a borrower got to explore the world outside their home after all.

Frisk walked over to the edge of the desk but made sure to be careful because of their numb leg. From their new vantage point, Frisk could see a box sitting on the floor. It was filled with older books that looked about ready to fall apart. There were many loose pages, and Frisk could make out book covers that were completely devoid of any papers inside of them. They figured the old books had fallen into disrepair and were probably being set aside to be tossed out.

Suddenly, Frisk heard humming from outside the room. It was a gentle tune, almost like a lullaby. Frisk smiled as they listened, the melody gave them a feeling of nostalgia. Where have they heard that song before? They were sure they never heard it on Papyrus’ little home radio. The song made them feel... safe. It gave them a sense of security that they hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever. Frisk could just barely feel a memory in the back of their mind, but it felt like something was keeping them from remembering it.

The child was broken out of their trance when they heard the door being opened. Startled, they quickly turned on their heel to see who was entering. They made the mistake of turning on their numb leg, which immediately knocked them off balance and sent them tumbling over the edge of the desk. For a split second, Frisk was afraid they were going to break their neck. The other second was spent trying to process why they were surrounded by the smell of dust. The borrower opened their eyes, trying to process what had happened. Frisk was surrounded by papers on all sides that were filled with inked words that were smudged with age and water. They had fallen into the box of old books.

Frisk suppressed a cough when they heard whoever had entered the room walk over to the desk and sit in it’s creaky chair.

“With Papyrus putting the books away, I should probably start writing the- oh!” The voice of the woman from the front desk exclaimed. There was a sound of shuffling paper and a small gentle chuckle “Why the cards have already been written out! What a pleasant surprise. Did Papyrus do this?” There was a brief pause before the woman started laughing “I probably should have told him that the last book in the list was ordered for my personal collection and wouldn’t need a card. Although I have to say, it was a good try. Oh, the little snail drawings are adorable! The one in the tuxedo looks very handsome.” The woman giggled again and Frisk found themselves smiling. A warm feeling of pride bloomed in their chest, especially when the woman announced that she was going to keep the card despite it not being needed. Frisk had been a big help! They did something important!

Their inner excitement stopped when they felt the box shake for a brief moment, and then the familiar gut dropping sensation of being lifted off the ground. The box was being picked up. Joy was quickly replaced with panic when the woman left the room with the box in her hands. Frisk grabbed hold of a book cover to steady themselves during the bumpy ride. The small stowaway sat quietly. They tried to formulate a plan on what to do next. The lady was going to have to put down the box sooner or later, and when she did Frisk could just sneak off and find their way back to the office. It couldn’t be too difficult to navigate a library, could it?

The box gave a sudden jerk as it was placed down on the floor. The woman had begun humming again and Frisk listened as her melody grew distant while she moved on to another area. Frisk took the opportunity and carefully climbed out of the box. They hurt their bottom when they landed on the stone floor. Strange. Frisk thought all the rooms in the library were carpeted. Frisk turned around and immediately regretted everything.

The warm coziness of the library was gone. This new room was dimly lit by flickering lightbulbs that hung overhead, but there were quite a few in need of changing considering how many areas were covered in foreboding shadows. On both sides of the child were towering bookcases, with books that seemed decrepit with age. The air was muggy, the hard floor was cold, and everything about this place terrified the little child.

Frisk swallowed the lump in their throat and reminded themselves that if they wanted to go home, they were going to need to find Papyrus. With their mission fresh in their mind, Frisk bravely set out into the dark labyrinth of bookshelves. They figured they must have been in a basement because they could see no other source of light that may suggest windows. Frisk couldn’t remember the route the woman had taken, so they just went with their gut in choosing what direction to take every time they came to an intersection.

However, after a while, they weren’t sure if they could trust their gut anymore. They swore they had passed that exact copy of “Moby Dick” three times now. How long had they been walking? It felt like hours but that could just be their imagination. Frisk was getting tired and hungry, maybe they should have thought to ask Papyrus about food. They whined when they noticed the weird dust ball that resembled a hamster for the fifth time during their wandering. Frisk was lost.

They felt like, by admitting it to themselves, it made the situation seem even more hopeless. The small child slowed their pace down to a stop and looked around. Frisk wasn’t having fun anymore. They wanted to go home. Frisk felt a horrible sorrow stab their heart when they realized that they wouldn’t be able to go home. They wouldn’t be able to see their human friends ever again and nobody would ever know what happened to them. Frisk would just disappear and their lives would go on. The thought made tears well up in their eyes. Their tired legs couldn’t support them anymore, so they fell to their knees; scraping them on the rough stone floor. Frisk had never felt more alone than at that moment. There, in the cold silence of the basement, they began to cry. Loud ugly sobs escaped their throat, shattering the thick silence like glass. Fat tears rolled down their cheeks that they didn’t bother to wipe away. Frisk hugged themselves and rocked back and forth in an attempt at self-comfort. It wasn’t working. They were never going to see their friends ever again. Frisk was going to die down there and there was nothing anybody could do.

It took them a few minutes, but eventually they were able to calm themselves down. They sniffled sadly while they wiped at their damp eyes with their sleeve. With their eyes clear of tears, Frisk noticed that there was a large shadow that had fallen over them. They felt the feeling of eyes on their back.

Frisk scrambled to their feet and spun around, clearly startled. They seemed to have taken the person off guard as well because they flinched backward. Frisk locked eyes with the person, brown met reddish-amber. The memories that had been evading them all morning slammed into the front of their mind.

 

_ “Welcome home! How was your first day of school you two?” _

 

The person leaned forward a bit. Frisk took a step back.

 

_ “Gorey, would you like to hear a joke?” _

 

The human inched closer to the small child who continued to back away until they tripped over their own tired legs.

 

_ “Children, have you been sneaking off to the buttercup fields again?” _

 

Frisk knew who this was. They had heard her voice since the day they were born. Listened to her sing beautiful lullabies to her two children when they went to bed at night. Had eaten borrowed pieces of her butterscotch-cinnamon pie that their Dad had almost broken his arm to get for them as a birthday present.

It was one of Frisk’s original human hosts, the mother of two children, and apparently the caretaker of the local library.

It was Mrs. Toriel Dreemurr.

 

_ “Chara, what are you doing over there?” Toriel had asked as she entered the room. The child quickly spun around, and in one fluid motion hid the open hole in the floor with the rug - shrouding Frisk’s destroyed home in a thick darkness. _

_ “Nothing, Mom!” Chara said in an innocent voice “I was just about to go play in my room.” _

 

Toriel reached a hand out towards Frisk.

Frisk fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY GUYS.  
> As an author, I love knowing other people's opinions on my work. I love reading your comments and staring at your fanart for hours, HOWEVER sometimes it doesn't tell me as much as I need to know! A simple "OMG I LOVE THIS" is really nice and I appreciate it, but I also want to know WHAT you love about it! So I would like to give all you readers a special little request/challenge or whatever.
> 
> I want to know your favorite part in the story so far and why!
> 
> Either write in the comments or draw it and post it on tumblr. If you do draw something though, make sure to mention/tag me so I can see it! I want to see all your opinions whether their drawn or written, I honestly wanna know so don't be shy!
> 
> Thank you all for reading this fic and giving it all this love <3  
> See you next chapter!


	8. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is having nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait! But it's done! The new chapter is finally done! I'm weeping tears of joy.  
> This whole chapter is 10 pages long. 10 PAGES! I didn't think it would get this long but it did!  
> Heck, I didn't think this story would get this popular. And here we are 8 chapters later and over 300 kudos and 7000 hits.  
> Hope you all enjoy this chapter!  
> OH BUT A BRIEF WARNING! The second nightmare in this chapter might seem a little intense to some people, so just a heads up!

“Frisk…” A gentle voice called out to them.

The child stirred, they didn’t want to get up...

“Frisk, it’s time to wake up.”

Frisk slowly opened their eyes to the gentle shaking of their form. When their vision focused, they were met with the sight of a familiar face.

“Good morning, Mom,” Frisk said with a tiny yawn.

The woman smiled down at them and chuckled, the sound reminiscent of a bell “Good morning, sleepy head. You better get up before your father decides to eat your breakfast like yesterday.”

Frisk rolled their eyes. Their father tended to go overboard when it came to his teasing. Nevertheless, they sat up and climbed out of their jewelry box bed.

Frisk’s mother took their hand and guided them out of the room, which they were grateful for. They didn’t feel very stable on their feet for some reason. Their mind felt foggy and their legs felt numb. Perhaps they were getting sick?

Frisk was pulled out of their thoughts when their mother sat them down at the kitchen table across from their father who seemed to be working on something. Mom placed a plate of food in front of them, bacon bits and a slice of egg. Frisk hesitated a moment before starting to eat. Something about the food made them feel uncertain about everything.

“What are you working on, Dad?” Frisk asked around the food in their mouth, trying to take their mind off of the weirdness.

“Frisk, don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s rude.” Their father stated, not lifting his eyes off his work.

The child swallowed their food “Sorry.”

“That’s alright. As for this…” He lifted up what appeared to be a fishing hook and some string “It’s a grappling hook. However, this is only going to be one part of what I plan to make. I’m going to make something that will help me throw it a further distance.”

“How many times have I told you?” Frisk’s mother complained as she sat at the table with her own food “Don’t work on your crafts while we’re all eating! For a man who prides himself on being a gentleman, you sure don’t listen to your wife's rules.”

“With this, I’ll be able to get a lot more borrowing done - er - well when it’s finished I will anyway.” Dad set the grappling hook to the side and began talking about how he got the blueprints for the idea from a friend of his who lived one town over. Their mother simply nodded and cut in with a question or statement. So, basically, usual boring adult stuff.

Frisk tuned them both out and poked their food with their fork. Why couldn’t they taste it? Are their taste buds sleeping? Could that happen? Was it possible for someone to lose their sense of taste? Usually their mother’s cooking was delicious, however, this tasted as if Frisk were eating air. They couldn’t even feel the heat in their mouth despite the fact that it was still apparently steaming hot. Their vision grew blurry and for a moment, everything went silent, however Frisk was able to pull themselves back to reality after they heard their mother address them.

“Frisk, please don’t forget to do your chores today.” She said in a stern tone “If you decide to go play with that wind-up toy again instead of doing your part, I’m going to take it away for a week. Understand?”

“Yes, Mom…” Frisk sighed. They turned their gaze downward to poke at their food again but was surprised to find that their plate was completely empty. Before Frisk could voice their confusion, their father cut in.

“Actually dear, I was hoping Frisk could come with me today. The door is in need of fixing. One of the hinges is squeaking and we can’t have that now can we? I figured it would be a good day to teach Frisk some good life skills.” Frisk’s father said while he wiped his face with a napkin.

“Absolutely not! Frisk already skipped out on their chores yesterday and I will not have my child become a lazy slacker like the Yeller Boy!” Their mother replied angrily before turning to Frisk. They frowned, knowing exactly what was about to happen. She had the glint in her eyes which could only mean she was about to tell one of her scary stories. Their mother had six stories that she particularly loved. Frisk had already heard the Yeller Boy story a thousand times. She told it whenever Frisk was being too loud or lazy...

“Ten years ago in this very neighborhood, there was a young boy who everybody called Yeller. The reason was because he was a loudmouth! He was a lazy sloth of a child and would always shout at folks to get him the things he wanted. Yeller was a nasty little thing! One day, his family decided they were going to go on a picnic. They tried to wake Yeller up early, but he wouldn’t budge so they decided to simply leave without him.” Their mother leaned a little closer towards Frisk “When Yeller woke up, he called for his mother to bring him breakfast. When he got no response he called again and again. Louder and louder. Eventually, he called so loud, he drew the attention of a human to his home. Do you know what the human did when they found Yeller?”

Frisk covered their ears and shook their head. They didn’t like these stories. The stories always had such horrible endings. Why did their mother always insist that humans were so cruel? Their hosts seemed like such nice people. Toriel and Asgore were always so kind to others, especially when they had guests over. Asriel seemed like a lot of fun. Chara was a little scary, though. One time Frisk saw them tearing a spider’s legs off. However, they still thought that everybody should be given a chance.

“They squished him! Crushed his bones to powder! When Yeller’s family got home all that was left of him was a pile of-”

“That’s enough.” Their father placed a hand on her arm “You’re scaring Frisk again.”

“Good! They need to learn from these stories. After all, we want them to actually survive, don’t we?”

“Yes, but you tend to go a little… Overboard.”

“Overboard?!” Their mother cried, clearly offended “Well at least I don’t go nearly getting myself killed with stupid contraptions that don’t even work!”

Oh... They were fighting again. Frisk sighed and simply continued to cover their ears. This would always happen whenever they started questioning each other’s parenting methods. Frisk knew how it would end too. Eventually, their father would leave their home to take a walk in the garden and their mother would go into her collection room. Well, it could be worse. They could be hitting each other. Luckily their arguments never seemed to escalate to that level and they always seemed to make up afterward. So Frisk guessed it wasn’t that bad… Right?

While their parents argued, Frisk decided that since they were done with their food they were going to start on their chores. Perhaps if they completed them fast enough, they’d get to go with Dad anyway?

However, the moment they got up from their seat, the world went fuzzy again. The room felt like it was tilting, making the child feel off balance. When Frisk was able to focus themselves once again they grew extremely confused.

Their mother and father were no longer fighting. In fact, their father wasn’t even in the room anymore. Their mother was sitting at the cleaned off table, fixing one of her dresses that had a hole in it.

“Frisk, have you finished your chores?” She asked, not looking up from her task.

“Yes, Mom.” The words left Frisk’s mouth automatically and only added to their confusion. Why were they so sure that they finished the chores? Weren’t they just about to get started? What was going on?

Suddenly, Frisk’s father burst into the room. He was panting heavily and looked frantic. Something was wrong. He pulled Frisk’s mother into the other room and they started speaking to each other in hurried whispers. Frisk strained their ears to hear, wanting to know what was happening. The child could just barely make out the words “garden” and “followed” but they couldn’t decipher anything else.

“Frisk,” Their mother quickly walked over to them and rested her hands on their small shoulders “Sweetheart, I want you to go pack your backpack. We’re going on a little trip. Okay?”

Frisk blinked and looked between their mother and father “Where?”

“To your Uncle’s.” Frisk’s father called over his shoulder as he rushed out of the room.

“Y-Yes…” Their mother stuttered and her smile faltered a bit “Just go get ready sweetie. Hurry!” She gently pushed Frisk in the direction of their room before hurrying off to some other part of the house.

Frisk didn’t waste any time. They ran to their bedroom, grabbed their backpack and began packing. A locket that they had found, a parcel of sweets they had hidden behind their dresser, and a few changes of clothes all went into the bag. Frisk looked over at their toy box but decided against it. Their toy’s never really interested them, except for the wind-up rabbit their Dad had found and fixed for them. They really wished they could have packed it, but it was just too large to fit inside their tiny backpack. Feeling that they had enough, Frisk returned to the dining room. Their eyes were immediately drawn to a shimmer out of the corner of their eye. The hook and thread that their father had been working on earlier were lying beside the table. Frisk stuffed the hook and thread into their bag, knowing that their father would forget it in his rush to get the family out of the Dreemurr household.

“Frisk, are you all packed?” Their father asked as he entered the room with a backpack of his own.

“Y-Yes, Dad,” Frisk replied with a nod.

“Good now where’s your mo-”

_‘thump’_

Both Frisk and their father looked up at the ceiling when they heard it. A deep thump on the floorboards nearby.

_‘Thump’_

“Frisk.” Their father whispered in a panicked tone and tried to get them to look away from the ceiling “Frisk, look at me.” He grabbed their face and forced Frisk’s gaze downward “Listen, I’m going to find your mother. I want you to hide in here until we get back okay? Don’t come out until I tell you to.”

_‘THump’_

Frisk’s eyes were wide. What was happening? If whatever it was had gotten not only their father scared but their mother as well it had to be bad. Frisk couldn’t nod because their face was still being held, so they simply made a small noise of acknowledgment.

_‘THUmp’_

“I love you, Frisk.” Their father smiled and ruffled their hair “Stay safe.”

_‘THUMp’_

“Dad?” Frisk called out while he left the room, but he didn’t turn around. Why did it feel like he was saying goodbye?

_‘THUMP’_

Frisk held their breath when the strange sound resounded at its loudest. Carefully they inched their way over to the doorway. Their heart was hammering inside their chest as they peeked into the sitting room. The child was relieved to see that their parents were there, however, both were frozen and looking up at the ceiling.

“Mom? Dad?” Frisk timidly called out.

“Frisk!” Their mother looked as if she were about to run towards them.

**_‘CRASH’_ **

The child watched as the ceiling above them caved in. The loud sound of wood splintering and breaking hurt their ears. The silver sheen of a hammer pierced through the thick cloud of dust. Frisk wanted to run, but their legs weren’t working. Horrified, they looked upward through the hole to see a familiar face.

Chara.

Much to Frisk’s horror, their eyes met.

Chara’s gaze was pulled down towards the small pile of debris when Frisk’s father called out to them from under a large fragment of wood “Run!”

Without a second thought, Frisk turned to run back. The empty matchbox that was used as a dining room table would be perfect for hiding in. All they had to do was-

The world went blurry once more and Frisk knew that everything was wrong. Everything was wrong. The floor dropped out from underneath the small child and they found themselves falling through a black void. Their backpack dissolved into dust. They heard loud noises coming from all around them that vaguely sounded like cruel laughter. Frisk screamed at the top of their lungs while they fell through the dark abyss. The child desperately tried to grab for the retreating speck of light that was their old home.

Frisk wasn’t sure if there was a bottom to the pit they were falling down, but they had a feeling that told them they were about to land. The child curled up into a ball and braced for impact.

 

“...Hey, kid.”

 

The child landed on a soft surface. Frisk could feel their previous fear diminish at the sound of the familiar voice. Hesitantly, Frisk opened their eyes to be greeted by the sight of small golden flowers that seemed to light up the darkness.

“Frisk.”

The child’s eyes were brought upwards to meet two tired blue eyes. Their memory clicked and they felt the urge to sit up, but there was a strange force that was holding them down.

“Sans…?” Frisk could feel their eyes getting heavy.

“C’mon, kid. It’s time to wake up.” He said softly to the child lying in the small bed of flowers in his palms.

Frisk could feel gravity shifting and a strangely distorted sensation as their vision grew blurry again. They tried to say something but no noise came out.

“It’s just a bad dream, Frisk. It’s just a bad-”

 

“-dream.”

Frisk opened their eyes with a tiny gasp as the realization finally hit. A dream… It was only a dream.

“There you are.” Sans’ face came into view above them “Hey there, kid. You took quite the nap.”

“Sans?” The borrower sat up and groggily rubbed their eyes “I-I’m... Where?” Frisk yawned still feeling slightly drowsy. Curious, Frisk looked around and noticed that they were not in the brother’s home. They were back in the little office inside of the library. Frisk was lying on a soft red fabric, which judging by the familiar smell of pasta sauce, was Papyrus’ scarf.

“Sans, what happened?” They looked up at the shorter brother, confused and worried.

“I’ll tell you what happened.” Sans began with a chuckle “You scared to heck out of the librarian, that’s what happened.”

Frisk tilted their head. Librarian?

“When Toriel found you in the basement, you fainted. She brought you upstairs and got Papyrus for help. He called me over and we explained everything to her while we made sure that you were okay.”

“T-Toriel…?” Frisk’s eyes grew wide while their memories came rushing back. Sans seemed to notice their panicked expression.

“Something wrong, kiddo?”

“N-No…”

Sans stared at them for a moment before changing the subject “I should probably go let them know that you’re awake.” The shorter human got up from the swivel chair and headed towards the door, closing it softly behind him.

Frisk let out a sigh and laid back down on the scarf. They thought that they were finally getting over the nightmares, but apparently not. Maybe Toriel’s presence was what resurfaced them? This thought made Frisk frown. Right after the incident, Frisk had barely gotten any sleep. It wasn’t until a month after they moved into the brother’s home that the nightmares finally stopped and Frisk was able to get a full night’s sleep again.

Wait.

Frisk’s eyes widened when they processed what Sans had said.

“When Toriel **found you** in the basement, you fainted.”

She knew. Toriel knew. She knew about Frisk. What would she do? What would she say? Would she tell Asgore? Asriel? Chara? Frisk felt sick, but whether it was due to dehydration or fear they weren’t sure.

“The kid seems okay but let’s keep our voices low, just in case.” Sans’ voice came from the other side of the door. Three silhouettes approached in the frosted glass. The doorknob turned and Frisk wanted to hide, scared about how the next few minutes will play out.

The minute the door was wide enough, Papyrus flew into the room and filled Frisk’s view with his presence.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! If I had known this would happen I never would have left you alone, please forgive me please don’t hate meeeeee!” Papyrus’ face was red and it looked like he’d been crying. Frisk probably had him worried sick. The child simply pat him on the nose and gave him the best comforting smile they could have mustered at that moment. Papyrus seemed to understand what they were conveying and smiled back down at them “Ah! How rude of me!” The human suddenly exclaimed and pulled himself away from the desk. He grabbed the arm of a woman wearing a brightly colored muu-muu and pulled her forward “Frisk this is Toriel! She’s the nice lady who takes care of this library!”

The taller woman simply smiled at Papyrus’ antics and pushed a strand of graying hair out of her face. Frisk held their breath as her auburn eyes gently turned to focus on them. A shiver ran down their spine when she made a tiny gasp of wonder. Slowly, almost painfully slow, the woman approached and bent down so she would be more eye level with Frisk “Hello there. It is very nice to meet you, Frisk.”

“It’s n-nice to meet you too.” They managed to squeak back a response. Frisk could feel their heart hammering in their chest. They weren’t sure why they were so scared of Toriel, the woman had always been so sweet. Maybe it wasn’t Toriel, they mused to themselves, maybe it was the fact that she reminded them of their old life.

“Are you feeling alright, child? You are looking pale.” Toriel observed with a concerned frown on her face.

“I-I...uh…” Frisk flustered and looked down at their feet “I had a nightmare but it’s fine! I-I’m fine!”

“Poor dear, you must have been so frightened down in the basement. I’ll go get you some water.” Toriel got up from her bent over position and headed back over to the door “Sans, will you come with me?” The shorter brother looked between Toriel and Frisk. He was fixing Frisk with a strange look, almost like he wanted to ask them something but decided against it and left wordlessly with Toriel.

After Frisk had a drink of water, the brothers decided that it was getting late and time to return home.

“You’re welcome back at the library any time Frisk. I hope you all have a safe journey home.” Toriel waved goodbye as the three of them left through the main doors of the library. Instead of riding on Papyrus’ shoulder, they had taken Sans up on his offer of saying in his pocket.

The walk home was silent, well as silent as it could get with Papyrus going on about the troublemakers he caught in the library. Sans and Papyrus talked through dinner, but Frisk didn’t say much. They weren’t really in the mood to talk. The fact that Toriel knew about them was still bothering them. Frisk had known Toriel since they were just a baby, having lived in the Dreemurr home since their birth. Frisk wondered what the house was like now that it’s smaller residence were…”evicted”.

“Frisk?” Sans’ voice cut into their thoughts, and the child looked up from their dinner of a chicken nugget. Without the mask, Frisk could see that Sans was hesitating. After a long pause, Sans sighed, rubbed his eyes, and then smiled down at them “If you’re not in the mood for chicken I could always make you something else.”

“Oh!” Frisk’s eyes widened and then looked down at their nugget, which only had a few bites in it “No this is good. Thanks, Sans.” They took another bite out of the chicken nugget and looked at the television, though they weren’t paying attention. Their mind was still heavy with worries.

 

_Drip drip …_

Frisk was standing in their home. It was very dark and there was dust everywhere. Strange, they could have sworn that they had cleaned up recently. Then again, living underneath a house wasn’t the cleanest lifestyle. The child reached for the keychain flashlight they used as a lamp and flicked the switch. Then they flicked it again. No light came.

“Must be out of batteries,” Frisk thought while they wandered over to their storage box “There should be a spare in here…” They rummaged around in the box and pulled out the spare battery.

_Drip drip …_

The strange noise made them pause. Did they have a leak? They flinched when they felt something wet drip onto their head. Curious, Frisk reached a hand up and combed a hand through their hair.

“This water smells funny,” Frisk observed out loud while they wandered back over to the flashlight, sat down, and began unscrewing the bottom. Another drop of the strange water hit them again and soaked into their sweater. They scooted to the side to try to get out of the path of the dripping, but it was almost like the liquid was following them. With an annoyed huff, Frisk replaced the battery of the flashlight and switched it on.

Everything was red.

Frisk jumped to their feet and pushed the flashlight away, sending it rolling across the floor. Frisk looked in horror at the mess of red liquid.

“B-bl-NO! No, I’m not going to say it!”

_Drip drip drip…_

To Frisk’s growing dread, more of the red dripped down on top of them. They frantically wiped at themself trying to get it off. However, doing so only seemed to make the drips come more frequently. Out of a growing morbid curiosity, Frisk looked up to find the liquid’s source.

Red eyes and a childish giggle greeted them.

“Howdy!”

Frisk screamed.

 

And sat up in bed. They were wet, oh god they were wet. Frisk immediately jumped out of their hammock and switched on their flashlight, looking around wildly. No red.

_Drip drip drip._

They watched as water leaked in from the ceiling and dripped into their hammock. Well, that would explain why they were soaked. Frisk took a few deep breaths to calm their rapidly beating heart. The nightmares were coming back. Great, just great. With a sigh, Frisk grabbed a bottle cap sitting in the corner and put it in their hammock where the water was hitting. They’ll have to fix the leak in the morning, but where were they going to sleep? Frisk didn’t have anything else they could use as a makeshift bed, and they didn’t want to sleep on the floor. Plus, they were still feeling shaken from the nightmare. Suddenly, they got an idea.

It didn’t take Frisk long to reach Sans’ room. The door was opened a crack, allowing Sans’ snoring to be heard clearly. As quiet as a mouse Frisk made their way towards Sans’ mattress and climbed up. They walked up to Sans’ shoulder and began lightly shaking it.

“S-Sans? Are you awake?”

“Mhhh, I am now…” The human shifted and Frisk took a few steps back as he turned over on his side and opened his eyes “What’s up little pal?”

Frisk looked down at their bare feet and tugged on their pajamas “I’m sorry about waking you up and all, b-but I had another nightmare and there’s a leak in the pipes and my bed is all wet and I was just wondering if…” They trailed off, suddenly feeling very silly.

Sans only gave them a gentle smile “Sure kid, climb on up.” He made his hand into a fist and set it beside his pillow, giving Frisk the needed boost to easily climb up onto Sans’ pillow. Once they were settled, Frisk sat awake and stared at the distant ceiling. Sans had turned back to lying on his back and the room was silent once more. They sat like that for a few minutes before Sans’ voice cut in, making Frisk jump a little. They thought he had gone back to sleep.

“You know they say talking about nightmares usually helps you get over them. I’ve never tried it, though.”

“I-I don’t know…” Frisk replied and turned over to look at Sans, who also turned back over onto his side so he could see Frisk “It was really scary.”

“How about I tell you one of my nightmares then? Like a trade.” The human offered.

Frisk nodded.

“I once had a dream where Papyrus died.” Sans’ gaze grew distant as he recalled his nightmare “We were somewhere with lots of snow, and I remember I was running. All I found was his scarf, but somehow I knew he was gone.”

“That’s terrible…” Frisk said with a frown. They didn’t want Papyrus to die, he was funny and nice.

“Yeah…” Sans’ gaze looked off to the side “But it’s okay, it was only a dream. Not like it actually happened or anything. He’s still here.”

There was a moment of silence, Frisk was clearly hesitating, but when Sans’ gaze met theirs they decided to tell him.

“I dreamed about blood…” Frisk said in a small voice “It was dripping from the ceiling and was getting all over the place. T-Then I looked up and saw…” They brought their knees up to their chest and took a shaking breath “I saw these bright red eyes looking at me a-and then I screamed and woke up.”

“Aw geez.” Sans’ eyes widened and he gently reached up and rubbed Frisk’s back. The child immediately flipped over and hugged Sans’ finger, shivering with cold hard fear. They felt themself get moved by his hand and pressed against something soft. By the steady beating coming from behind them, Frisk guessed Sans had moved them so they were hugged lightly against his chest “Don’t worry kid, scary red-eyed things can’t get you here.”

Frisk shook their head and sniffled “It wasn’t a thing, it was a person.”

“A person?”

“A real life person that can get me.” They hugged Sans’ finger tighter as their shaking grew worse.

“Who was it, Frisk? Not me or Pap, I hope.”

“No, it wasn’t you or Papyrus or Undyne or Alphys.” Frisk hiccuped “It was Chara.”

There was a long moment of silence before Sans spoke again.

“Chara… As in Chara Dreemurr? One of Toriel’s kids?” Sans grew tense.

“Yes…”

“Frisk, how do you know Chara?”

“Chara took my parents.”

“What?” Sans’ voice was barely a whisper, but Frisk could hear it clearly.

“Because I used to live in the Dreemurr’s house…” Before Frisk knew it, they were spilling the whole story to Sans. How they were born and grew up in the Dreemurr home. How their parents taught them how to survive in a world that was way too big for them. How Chara one day found their little home and snatched Frisk’s parents away. How Frisk’s last memory of their father was him telling them to run, and they did. Sans listened to the whole story, not interrupting a single time. He only spoke again when he was sure Frisk was done.

“Is that why you seemed so freaked out around Toriel earlier? Because you were afraid you were going to have to see Chara again?”

“Yes.”

“Frisk.” Sans scooped Frisk up and sat up on his mattress, holding the small child in cupped hands. His tired blue eyes met their wet brown ones “You don’t have to be scared of Toriel. The last thing she would ever allow is for a kid to get hurt.”

“B-But what if she tells Chara? Or someone else, like Asgore?”

“Toriel and Asgore got divorced recently.”

This revelation surprised Frisk “Divorced?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why, though. None of my business. But, from what I know the courts made Chara go with Asgore. Asgore and Chara live on the other side of town now.” Sans rubbed the back of his head “Does that help, at least a little bit?”

Frisk nodded “A-A little, yeah.”

“You don’t have to worry about running into Chara again, okay? And even if you do, you won’t be alone. You got me, Pap, and the girls too. We’re all here for you, kid. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.” Sans set Frisk back down on his pillow and settled down himself “With that said, how about we get some shut-eye? The library will be closed tomorrow, so Papyrus and I were going to go shopping. Want to come along?”

“Yeah, I’d like that. Good night, Sans.” Frisk rolled over and closed their eyes.

“Good night, Frisk.” Sans whispered before drifting off himself.

 

The next morning started off with a loud sneeze. Frisk sniffled and curled up into a ball, trying to stop themself from shivering. Their joints ached, their nose was stuffy, and their head felt like cotton-balls were shoved inside. The child groaned as they opened their eyes to the first light of dawn. The entire white landscape of Sans’ pillow shifted as the human sat up and stretched with a yawn.

“G’morning, little buddy. Whoa, are you okay? Looking a little green around the gills there, kid.” Sans propped himself up on his elbows.

“I think I’m s-sick.” Frisk punctuated with a sneeze into their arm.

Sans pressed his pinky to Frisk’s forehead and made a displeased sound “Yeah, I think you managed to catch a fever there bud…”

“Does that mean I can’t go shopping with you and Papyrus today?” The child whined with wide pleading eyes. Sans shook his head.

“Sorry kid but no can do. We’re gonna have to get one of the girls to babysit you.”

“But I’m not a baby!” Frisk whined some more “I can handle being on my own!”

Sans teasingly poked Frisk on the forehead and sent the kid tumbling backward “Nice try, but there’s no way Paps and I are leaving you here alone while you’re sick. Come on, let’s get you downstairs.” He scooped Frisk up and made his way down the stairs. As he passed Papyrus who was sitting on the couch he simply said “Kid’s sick. Callin’ someone over to babysit.” To which Papyrus responded by flipping out.

When Sans set Frisk down on the counter-top near the wall telephone in the kitchen, Papyrus was next to them in an instant.

“Do we have any medications that borrowers can use? What if we give them too big a dose?! Are there any doctors who are borrowers?! Sans what do we do?!” Papyrus shook Sans by the shoulders, who simply stood there with the phone to his ear. When the person on the other end picked up Sans seemed to perk up.

“Hey g’morning! Hope I’m not interrupting anything too important.” A brief pause “Listen, since you have the day off and all, I was wondering if you could come over and watch Frisk for the day? The kid isn’t feeling too well and Paps and I need to go out shopping.” Another pause of silence “Hey, that’s a great idea! So when can you get here?” … “Twenty minutes? Perfect. Thanks so much. Bye.” Sans hung up the phone.

“Who was that, brother?” Papyrus questioned as Sans passed by him.

“You’ll see.” The shorter human looked over his shoulder, a wide grin on his face. Frisk wasn’t sure they liked the look in his eye.

For the next twenty minutes, Sans and Papyrus shuffled around the house getting ready for the day. They had set Frisk on the coffee table with the smallest blanket they could find. It was still way too big, but it was warm enough to help them stop shivering. All attention was turned to the door when the doorbell was rung.

“I’ll get it.” Sans opened the front door “Hey, thanks again for watching Frisk.”

“Of course!” Toriel smiled sweetly as she stepped through the front door “Anything to help such a sweet little child.” _Oh._ Now they knew what Sans had meant by “You’ll see.”

There was something moving behind Toriel but Frisk couldn’t quite make out what it was from their position. Frisk watched as Toriel walked over to the coffee table and kneeled down so she wasn’t towering over them “I’m sorry to hear you’re not feeling well Frisk, but don’t worry we will make sure you’re feeling better before the day is over.”

Frisk looked up at her clearly confused “Uh, we?”

“Why yes, I brought over a friend for you to play with. He’s going to help.” Toriel shifted out of the way to reveal a young boy with blond hair and wide amber eyes. He looked to be around Frisk’s age. The little boy looked down at Frisk with eyes full of wonder. Then he smiled.

“Howdy, Frisk! My Mom told me all about you on the way here. I’m Asriel, and I’m gonna be your new best friend!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE HE IIIIS  
> THE SWEET SUMMER CHIIIIILD  
> *LOUD WEEPING SOUNDS*  
> I'm sorry you guys don't understand how much I love Asriel. He's so adorable. I'm gonna have a lot of fun writing this next chapter let me tell you.


End file.
